F1 2020: Daniel Ricciardo qualifies 13th as Renault struggle in Spanish Grand Prix qualifying

Aussie F1 star Daniel Ricciardo and his Renault team will have to go back to the drawing board after a diabolical qualifying session.

Daniel Ricciardo didn’t have a great Saturday.

Aussie F1 star Daniel Ricciardo will have his work cut out for him in Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix after a brutally close Q2 elimination sees him well back on the grid.

Ricciardo missed out on Q3 by the narrowest of margins in the second session of qualifying as the Aussie qualified 13th, his worst qualifying of the season and second Q2 elimination.

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But the position doesn’t show just how close it was with Ricciardo missing out on Q3 by just 0.032 of a second.

“It was a shame that it was so close out there and we only have thirteenth place to show for it,” Ricciardo said.

“When you miss out by such a little margin, it’s a shame as it could be the difference between four spots on the grid.

“It was a clean lap in Q2, but other teams were able to find a little bit more.”

Not a great day for Danny Ricc.

Missing out on the final qualifying session does however open a door for Ricciardo and his Renault team as they’ll have free choice of tyres heading into Sunday night’s race.

“We have to find a way tomorrow and we’ll be pushing as best as we can,” Ricciardo said.

“It will be hard for overtaking, but we’ll try.

“It’s going to be hot, the tyres are going to have a workout and there could be some opportunities on strategy for the race.

“I’m still optimistic for points.”

McLaren’s Lando Norris was the lucky driver to claim 10th ahead of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, AlphaTauri’s Daniil Kvyat and Ricciardo.

Red Bull’s Alexander Albon was also on the edge of qualifying, just 0.003 of a second ahead of Norris.

While Ricciardo would see himself a bit unlucky, it’s nothing to Vettel, who missed out on a spot in Q3 by just 0.002 seconds.

Former world champion Nico Rosberg put it in context.

“It must be so tough for him mentally now as well,” he said. “To miss out on Q3 by two thousandths of a second from Lando Norris, that’s like 10cm at the end of the lap. For him, that must be very, very frustrating.

“I think he’s in one of the most difficult mental challenges of his career at the moment.”

Sky Sports’ Martin Brundle also felt for the four-time champion as Vettel missed his fourth Q3 of the season.

“What a miserable season the car number five of Sebastian Vettel is having,” Brundle said.

“He just seems to have lost his mojo.”

The usual suspects are once again at the front of the grid with Lewis Hamilton in pole position ahead of Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas, with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Racing Point’s Sergio Perez on the second row.

Pole sitter Lewis Hamilton and teammate Valtteri Bottas lock out another front row.

It puts Hamilton in a strong position historically with 21 of the 29 races in Barcelona have been won from pole position.

It ended a horrible day for Renault with the team seeing both drivers eliminated in Q2, as Esteban Ocon qualified 15th for the Grand Prix following a crash in practice earlier on Saturday.

Situation normal at the front. Racing Point nicely picking up where Hulkenberg left off. McLaren looking good again but a ‘mare for Renault. Not sure I get the overwhelming debate about Albon. Max is THAT good #F1

— Mark Gallagher (@_markgallagher) August 15, 2020

Ricciardo at P13. Really?? Wtf.

— Nicole Sarmiento (@neekelita) August 15, 2020

I do love this midfield battle in qualifying.

P9 - Albon (Red Bull) - 1:17.163
P10 - Norris (McLaren) - 1:17.166
P11 - Vettel (Ferrari) - 1:17.168
P12 - Kvyat (AlphaTauri) - 1:17.192
P13 - Ricciardo (Renault) - 1:17.198

Five teams separated by 0.035s in Q2.#F1 #SpanishGP

— Chris Medland (@ChrisMedlandF1) August 15, 2020

Late in the practice session, Ocon was red flagged after he crashed, ripping the front wing off his Renault, while trying to avoid the slower car of Haas’ Kevin Magnussen.

Ocon tried to avoid a collision and turned into the wall in a heavy but bizarre crash, with the Renault driver reportedly checking his mirrors.

WATCH IN THE VIDEO PLAYER ABOVE

Esteban Ocon avoided the crash.

The stewards cleared Magnussen of any wrongdoing and labelled it an “unfortunate accident”.

“Magnussen pulled gently off line, having been advised of following traffic on fast laps. At the same time Ocon was also moving to the right to let traffic by and was looking in his mirrors for the cars following,” the stewards said.

“When he subsequently looked forward, he was surprised to see Magnussen directly ahead of him and swerved to avoid a collision. Both drivers and the stewards agreed that it was an unfortunate accident and that neither driver was to blame.”

The Renault mechanics were able to get the car on the track for qualifying but it wasn’t enough with Ocon starting well back.

SPANISH GRAND PRIX STARTING GRID

Row 1: Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) – Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes)

Row 2: Max Verstappen (Red Bull) – Sergio Perez (Racing Point)

Row 3: Lance Stroll (Racing Point) – Alexander Albon (Red Bull)

Row 4: Carlos Sainz (McLaren) – Lando Norris (McLaren)

Row 5: Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) – Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri)

Row 6: Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) – Daniil Kvyat (AlphaTauri)

Row 7: Daniel Ricciardo (Renault) – Kimi Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo)

Row 8: Esteban Ocon (Renault) – Kevin Magnussen (Haas)

Row 9: Romain Grosjean (Haas) – George Russell (Williams)

Row 10: Nicholas Latifi (Williams) – Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo)