"I'm going to buy him a beer" - Why is Daniel Ricciardo grateful to George Russell for his P7 finish at 2022 F1 Mexican GP?

Daniel Ricciardo was thankful for George Russell jumping into the pits late in the 2022 F1 Mexican GP as it helped him keep the 10-second advantage over Esteban Ocon in the final standings.

The Australian received a 10-second penalty following his collision with Yuki Tsunoda in the race. That penalty meant that Ricciardo, who was running in P7 in the later stages of the race, needed to have a 10-second-or-more gap to Ocon in P8 or he would lose position to him. The McLaren driver was right on the precipice of the 10-second gap but with Russell about to lap him, he might have had to slow down because of the blue flags.

With George Russell jumping into the pits on the penultimate lap, Daniel Ricciardo didn't need to slow down and hence was able to keep the 10-second gap to Esteban Ocon. Speaking to RacingNews365, the Australian mentioned how fortunate he was that Russell pulled into the pits at the time, saying:

"To go on the attack during the race and to feel like I could attack with this car was just really nice. The last two rounds I was pretty nervous, because George (Russell) came closer and closer, which would give me blue flags. I knew I would lose a few seconds and that would put me behind Ocon on paper. I was pushing hard to keep that extra gap of two seconds, but then George went into the pit lane. He probably didn't think about that (that he helped Ricciardo with the move), but I'm going to buy him a beer."

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Daniel Ricciardo didn't feel like following the lead of those who pitted

While drivers like Lando Norris, Esteban Ocon, and Valtteri Bottas pitted in front of him during the race, Daniel Ricciardo did not want to follow suit. The Australian credited the strategy for the strong result, saying:

"When I saw Lando (Norris) and the other guys going into the pit lane, I didn't really tend to follow their lead, because it would then move me to their race, while I was just driving behind them. So Tom (Stallard, Ricciardo's race engineer) kept asking how long I could continue on those tyres. I said, 'Even though my pace doesn't make it look like I'm the fastest on the track, I feel like we can postpone a pit stop.' Vettel was still on the soft tyre at the time and that went well, so that gave me some confidence that that tyre would work well. It was certainly a good strategy."

The P7 in Mexico was certainly one of Daniel Ricciardo's best performances for McLaren this season.