Ricciardo expected 'more of a step' in Austria F1 double-header

After failing to finish inside the top ten at the Styrian Grand Prix, Ricciardo returned to the points with seventh a week later.

While it was a welcome result for the Australian, Ricciardo was still well behind the pace of teammate Lando Norris, who narrowly missed out on a maiden pole position before securing his third podium finish of the season behind Max Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas.

Even though he lacked the raw speed on race day, Ricciardo enjoyed the fights with both Ferraris and Sergio Perez.

“It was quite fun,” Ricciardo said. “At the beginning we were fighting with the soft tyre cars. And when they pitted I was able to get a little bit in the middle, but it always had pressure from Charles and Carlos at the end. It was a busy race defending. But it was fun. The start was good again, and the restart, so I enjoyed it.

“There is still certainly some speed to find. But I enjoyed myself a little bit more today, so that is the most important thing right now - to get some enjoyment back.”

Prior to the Austria rounds, Ricciardo finished just 11 seconds behind Norris having shown great competitiveness throughout the weekend at Paul Ricard.

Ricciardo conceded that he expected more from himself at the Red Bull Ring.

“Last week I could’ve been sixth or seventh, so I would say looking at that it would have been some good points,” Ricciardo added. “After Paul Ricard I was expecting to make more of a step in these two races.

“It was not really the case so I still have things to learn. Austria’s nice. I enjoy it.”