F1 News: McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo delighted with P7 finish in Mexico Grand Prix

On Lap 51, Ricciardo was gaining ground on Tsunoda and tried to make a move for P11 going down the inside of Turn 6, but ended up hitting the AlphaTauri's right side-pod, forcing Tsunoda into the pits where he ended up retiring from the race.

Ricciardo picked up a 10-second penalty but continued racing and made a late pit stop for soft tyres change then ended up finishing the race seventh overall.

In an interview following the race, Ricciardo explained his collision at Mexico City with Tsunoda, and said: "I just saw the replay and it wasn't blatant. I've gone in, locked [up] and crashed into him.

"I feel like I held a pretty tight line. It was maybe a little bit me, there's a lot of blind spots, but all we needed was to give each other 30 more centimetres and then we were good.

"The truth is, I wasn't actually trying to lunge him in the corners, I was just trying to stay there, hold him a little bit wide then get the exit with the fresher tyre. But anyway, look, a 10 seconds penalty was more than enough to justify that, and I came back through.

"I actually didn't respond to Tom [Stallard, race engineer] when he said you've got [a] 10 seconds [penalty]. I was like, 'The one race where we've got pace!' So anyway, I got my head back down and we eventually pulled a big enough gap on the others so [I'm] happy," Ricciardo said.

Ricciardo picked up the Driver of the Day accolade despite picking up his 10-second penalty, finishing two places ahead of his McLaren teammate Lando Norris.

"It's so nice," Ricciardo said of his performance. "I wish there was an explanation why it hasn't been like this more often, races where I can just lean on the car and kind of put it where I want.

"Obviously there's only a few left, better late than never, happy to have had an attacking race. I feel normally if we're in the points, we're looking in the mirrors, so to come through the field felt good and yeah, the team I'm sure feel happy as well, and relieved after the penalty," he added.