‘When people say things, I tend to have a decent weekend!’ – Ricciardo ready to answer his critics on track

He again added to his tally in Austria by ending the race in P9 and, speaking before a challenging weekend at Silverstone in which he failed to score, the eight-time race winner acknowledged that his recent points results had been “needed”.

“It’s probably the thing I was certainly lacking for most of the season so far, was to string a few decent results together,” said Ricciardo.

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“But yeah, I don’t know, it feels like when we have a media briefing and they’re like, ‘Yeah, a few people are saying things about you’, I tend to have a decent weekend!

“Maybe some of it’s good.”