McLaren arrived in Mexico and ever since FP1, showed a lack of pace which worried the English team; they struggled a lot on Friday to match the top midfield runners. After FP3, Daniel Ricciardo seems to have gained the pace he needed to fight with both Ferraris and a very strong AlphaTauri in the form of Pierre Gasly his weekend.

Ricciardo in fact commented: “From the very first lap this morning, I felt like I got my pace back, for sure it was not ideal ending the session in seventh place between the Ferraris, but I don’t want to blame anything from yesterday for the outcome we had today”

A Ferrari and an AlphaTauri will start the race in front of the Australian driver and about the expectations of the team for this weekend he said: “ We felt like these two teams were quicker than us and we needed to find quite a bit to place ourselves in front of them today. For now, I’m seventh; I don’t want to jump up and down about seventh, but comparing our pace in the last days with what we achieved today, we definitely took a step forward. It’s nice to make progress and it was a better day than yesterday.”

Ricciardo is very focused on the upcoming race today, and admitted: “ I think our focus will be try to gain many positions again, I’ve done it a few times this year and I try to put myself in the best track position possible”.

The Australian didn’t hide his love for Mexico and his desire to taste a bit of the country soon after the race: “I’m looking forward for the race but also the post-race. Hopefully after the GP tomorrow night, I will enjoy some spicy margaritas; maybe I feel a bit disappointed now but looking forward for a happy Sunday.”