From seventh place onwards, Ricciardo prevailed on the first lap ahead of Sainz and Red Bulls Sergio Perez.
The Australian was mostly fifth in the first half of the race before relinquishing position to Perez as he overtook outside Turn 1.
Ricciardo managed to fend off Sainz in sixth, although Ferrari seemed to have the superior pace at Barcelona.
After his entire weekend, Ricciardo feels like he has made a significant step forward after beating teammates Norris for the first time in 2021.
“Happy the whole weekend,” said Ricciardo. “It was definitely a better weekend. It’s definitely a step in the right direction, it’s progress. I’m still learning, it sounds crazy to say that, but I’m still learning how to get better with this car. The race was good. We’re racing five more times a day and I think six is the best we can do.
“Every car in front was faster and even Carlos behind was faster. So it was crucial to have him in the start and that allowed me to finish sixth. The team made a good two stops. We changed the plan later in the race and it was the right call. “
On the subject of matching items
Ricciardo described it as his “strongest race” even though he was mostly forced to be on the defensive.
“It was my strongest race so far this year,” added Ricciardo. “I think Portugal was good, but I started too far back. Today was better because we got off to a good start and passed some faster cars and then I had to defend the whole race.
“There was a lot of pressure and still a few mistakes, but it was a much cleaner race. Sergio was a lot faster, but to hold her up for as long as I did, I was pretty happy with it. I’m sure he didn’t enjoy it too much, but I had to try. And in the end it was important to hold Carlos off. “
On the subject of matching items
Teammate Norris only managed eighth place and ended where he started.
He explained his race in Barcelona and said: “No surprises. Very difficult to pass. It’s quite difficult to get anywhere near DRS in the last sector. That has been proven. We did what we could. This strategy, which we followed with two stops in the end and got past Ocon, was the only thing we really could have done.
“Maybe it didn’t look good, but we had a decent race in the race. We did what we could and we did the best we could. “
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