Daniel Ricciardo is ‘hurting’ after moment we all missed
Daniel Ricciardo had his best day of the 2022 Formula 1 season on Saturday — but he is actually “hurting” from a detail the world missed.
Daniel Ricciardo will start the Australian Grand Prix from seventh on the grid after his best day of the 2022 season on Saturday.
The Aussie had his best qualifying result this year after moving through to the third qualifying session for the first time.
It was a day of renewed hope for Ricciardo and his McLaren team after Lando Norris climbed up to finish fourth.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc will start Sunday’s race from pole after he came up with a lightning lap at the end of the session to bump Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to P2.
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Ricciardo, meanwhile, was left kicking himself after he struggled to find any new pace on fresh tyres in Q3.
The 32-year-old wasn’t able to improve on the 1:19.032 lap he set near the start of Q3.
The fact his final run on fresh tyres failed to have any impact on the time sheets went overlooked until he spoke to the media at the end of the day.
“As a whole, the weekend has been really good. The only (problem) was the last run,” he said.
“I went about a second slower with a new set of tyres. So that’s hurting a little bit at the moment. I’m not really sure what that was. Could have maybe gone a little bit better, but maybe we’ll get something out of that.
“So there’s still a little bit, probably just from me, still exploit. To be honest, if we didn’t have that last run in qualy I’d be sitting here pretty happy and confident and comfortable. That’s still on my mind a little bit.”
Ricciardo moved through to the third qualifying session after surviving an explosive Q1 where two drivers made heavy contact in a scary crash.
‘They’re not happy’: Rumour surrounds late track change
The rumour mill has exploded surrounding the late decision from Formula 1 marshalls to remove a Drag Reduction System (DRS) zone from the new-look Albert Park circuit because of safety fears.
The track has had three major areas of upgrades in the past 12 months in changes designed to increase over-taking opportunities.
But on Saturday afternoon, F1 officials confirmed one of the DRS zones between turns eight and nine has been removed.
Some of the teams reportedly found out just 20 minutes before the final practice session on Saturday afternoon.
Sky Sports Formula 1 analyst Karun Chandhok revealed before qualifying there is speculation across the Formula 1 grid that some teams pushed for the decision to be made because it suits the strengths of their cars.
He said one team official told him there is talk Alpine Racing driver Fernando Alonso was the loudest voice who “shouted” for the DRS area to be removed during a briefing meeting with the FIA — global motorsport’s governing body.
He said removing the DRS played into the strengths of the Alpine car because it generates speed with better downforce than most of the grid.
“They’re not happy,” Chandhok said of how some teams took the news about the DRS removal.
Sky Sports pit lane reporter Ted Kravitz responded by saying: “It’s a pit lane full of intrigue”.
Aussie Daniel Ricciardo was consulted about the major track renovations and opened up on his input during the week.
“Not taking credit, but I was a little bit involved in the talks about revamping the circuit a few years ago when they had the first idea of what to do to try to make the racing a bit better,” Ricciardo told reporters on Wednesday.
“It has always been a fun track but on Sundays it has been a little bit tricky for overtaking just through the layout and the nature of it.
“Really, the idea was to try and open it up and just to make Sunday a bit more exciting and try to have more overtakes.
“As a race now you’re going to see a totally different Sunday here in Melbourne.”
Ricciardo will start Grand Prix from seventh
Daniel Ricciardo will start the Australian Grand Prix from the fourth row after his best qualifying campaign this year.
He was as high as P4 when the Q3 session was red-flagged as a result of an incident involving Fernando Alonso.
Alonso went into the wall early in the session, forcing him to park his Alpine on the side of the track.
His incident brought out a red flag with seven minutes left in the session.
Ricciardo slowly dropped down the order at the end of the session.
He was again out-qualified by McLaren teammate Lando Norris, who will start from fourth on the grid.
Norris was 0.3 seconds quicker than Ricciardo and was 0.8 seconds slower than pole-sitter Charles Leclerc.
The Ferrari driver trumped Max Verstappen’s earlier time with a monster lap right at the end of the session.
Final qualifying results, Aus GP starting order
1. Charles Leclerc
2. Max Verstappen
3. Sergio Perez
4. Lando Norris
5. Lewis Hamilton
6. George Russell
7. Danny Ricciardo
8. Esteban Ocon
9. Carlos Sainz
10. Fernando Alonso
Massive crash forces red flag in Q1
Lance Stroll and Nicholas Latifi have crashed out in the opening qualifying session.
The pair were involved in a scary crash which left Stroll seething.
In a strange incident, Latifi was re-entering the track from pit lane and had let Stroll pass him.
However, as Stroll slowed down heading into the next turn, Latifi tried to sneak past on the inside.
That’s when disaster struck as Stroll cut into the inside line, apparently unaware of Latifi’s aggressive move.
“F***ing Latifi, what is he f***ing doing? Honestly, he just hit me man,” Stroll said on team radio.
Both Stroll and Latifi are out of the car and okay
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 9, 2022
Just over two minutes remain on the paused Q1 clock â³#AusGP#F1pic.twitter.com/PvyZJ7ehe6
Latifi said on team radio: “I don’t understand what he was doing, he wasn’t looking in his mirrors”.
Latifi skidded across the track sideways before spinning into the wall, sending one of his tyres rolling across the track as debris flew everywhere.
When the debris was cleared and the session re-started, Max Verstappen recorded the quickest time, while Daniel Ricciardo was 12th.
Stroll, Latifi, Sebastian Vettel, Kevin Magnussen and Alexander Albon were eliminated.
Final practice results, finishing order
1. Lando Norris (GBR) McLaren 1:19.117,
2. Charles Leclerc (MON) Ferrari 1:19.249,
3. Sergio Perez (MEX) Red Bull 1:19.265,
4. Fernando Alonso (ESP) Alpine 1:19.275,
5. Carlos Sainz (ESP) Ferrari 1:19.419,
6. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS) McLaren 1:19.693,
7. Max Verstappen (NED) Red Bull 1:19.809,
8. Lewis Hamilton (GBR) Mercedes 1:19.896,
9. Valtteri Bottas (FIN) Alfa Romeo Racing 1:20.008,
10. Yuki Tsunoda (JPN) AlphaTauri 1:20.071,
11. George Russell (GBR) Mercedes 1:20.096,
12. Pierre Gasly (FRA) AlphaTauri 1:20.133,
13. Esteban Ocon (FRA) Alpine 1:20.205,
14. Mick Schumacher (GER) Haas 1:20.692,
15. Zhou Guanyu (CHN) Alfa Romeo Racing 1:20.836,
16. Alexander Albon (THA) Williams 1:20.958,
17. Kevin Magnussen (DEN) Haas 1:21.025,
18. Nicholas Latifi (CAN) Williams 1:21.050,
19. Lance Stroll (CAN) Aston Martin 1:21.636,
20. Sebastian Vettel (GER) Aston Martin 0.000
Vettel crashes during practice
Sebastian Vettel slammed his Aston Martin into the wall during free practice three on Saturday afternoon, bringing the session to a halt as the red flags came out.
Vettel skidded off the track at turn 10 and while he was OK, his team’s qualifying chances might not be.
“Sorry guys, I’m so sorry,” the German said over team radio.
F1 orders late track change over safety fears
Organisers have removed a Drag Reduction System (DRS) zone from the new-look Albert Park circuit because of safety fears.
F1 last visited Melbourne before the pandemic in 2019 and since then, the track has undergone some significant alterations — but they haven’t pleased everyone.
Multiple corners were tweaked and two were even removed in an attempt to allow for more overtaking and aggressive racing, which in turn resulted in there being four DRS zones — which drivers use to accelerate and aid in passing manoeuvres.
But on Saturday afternoon, F1 officials confirmed one of the DRS zones between turns eight and nine would be removed.
“For safety reasons, DRS Zones will be reduced to three for the remainder of the event,” the FIA said in a statement.
“DRS detection 1 will be moved to before Turn 9, DRS activation 1 will be after Turn 10, DRS detection 2 will remain unchanged, with the following activation zones will be renumbered accordingly.”
Former F1 driver turned Sky Sports pundit Paul Di Resta wasn’t happy with the track changes when the grid turned out for practice on Friday.
“I’m not convinced on it to be honest,” he said. “I don’t think taking out the corners was the right call. 2022 is very different to 2019, four DRS zones is too much I think but I don’t want to see an artificial race.
“Turn 11, which used to be 13, I don’t know why they changed it. Leave it as it was. I don’t know how they’re going to get two cars there.”
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