Daniel Ricciardo had to settle for sixth on the grid for the Belgian Grand Prix and felt there was little he could have done to improve his time. The Red Bull Racing driver was out-qualified by team-mate Max Verstappen by almost half a second around the famous race track at Spa but found that when he attempted to push the car more in any of the sector, it compromised him in other areas.
“We were a bit off in Q1 but I knew there was more time and then in Q2 we got closer to the pace that we needed,” said Ricciardo. “Unfortunately in Q3, when you really start to get everything out of it, we couldn’t get much more.
“I felt like if I pushed more in one part of the track it killed me in another part so I didn’t really feel we had the car to complete one lap at 100%. I just felt a little bit limited with the balance. But I’m going to be optimistic and say, if that’s the case maybe that means we have got a more consistent car for the race."
The Aussie hopes that improvements will be made to a more consistent set-up on his car and a better pace for the race today. Despite a disappointing qualifying Ricciardo is still optimistic about his chances of a podium if he takes a risk on tyre strategy: “If we’re not getting the peak out of the tyre maybe we can sustain a relatively good pace for longer than the others, so that’s what I’m betting on.”
Sian Williams
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Bahrain International Circuit - Winter testing
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