Daniel Ricciardo outlines flaws in RB plan after disappointing qualifying at British Grand Prix
Daniel Ricciardo has made his feelings clear about how qualifying went at the British Grand Prix, pinning a disappointing day on the plan the RB team settled on.
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Daniel Ricciardo was left frustrated by his RB team for decisions he believes cost him places on the grid for the British Grand Prix.
Ricciardo will line up 15th for the race but believes there was more on offer had the team made better decisions during Saturday’s qualifying session.
Held in mixed conditions, the Australian progressed through Qualifying 1 with a late lap that was good enough for tenth.
However, his final run in Qualifying 2 was compromised, leaving Ricciardo less than impressed with the run plan he was given.
“Q1 was, these conditions are actually quite fun,” when it’s mixed and you’re all putting slicks on,” he began.
“We got through and that was good, but then Q2, honestly, I’m pretty frustrated with.
“In the cockpit, alright, I try, that’s probably why I don’t go crazy on the radio, but I felt like everything I knew, I was questioning a lot of the choices we were making and the run plan and the timings.
“At the end, obviously, we would trip over everyone in the last chicane trying to open up and making some enemies, breaking that gentleman’s agreement by overtaking and trying to get my lap before the light goes out.
“But then I start the lap close to Zhou [Guanyu] and it’s just… We never had a chance.
“I honestly don’t think we did a great job with the run plan,” he continued.
“We’re not in that luxury to mess it up. Obviously not quick enough, and showed today.
“I’m not saying we could have been P8 or something, but I felt like we left a lot on the table.”
It wasn’t just the way the end of Qualifying 2 unfolded that left Ricciardo frustrated, with choices made early in the session also raising eyebrows.
“We put our new set in the first run and I asked as in why are we not putting a used set first,” he revealed.
“So lots of little things, bit of back and forth.
“Sometimes I feel like I should get a bit more animated but we’re also in it together as a team.
“So we’ll try and figure it out but I certainly felt like we made some mistakes today.”
RB came into the British GP weekend having consolidated its car following a troublesome upgrade package – which proved a downgrade in some regards – that was first deployed in Spain.
Work completed in Austria last week served to move the car forward but Ricciardo was left chasing issues with his car again on Friday in Silverstone.
“It’s definitely been a tricky weekend for us as in terms of pace,” he admitted.
“As a team felt like we’d certainly been missing a bit and even this morning in inter conditions, sometimes that levels the playing field, but we still were missing something.
“I certainly trust the team, that they’ve put the best things on the car,” Ricciardo added.
“It’s clear that we certainly still seem to be a bit off, at least these last three, call it more traditional circuits, a bit more on the back foot.
“But maybe for now, fortunately, the calendar is getting filled with less traditional circuits, so maybe it won’t be too doom and gloom for too long.”
While frustrated by the decisions made by the team in qualifying, Ricciardo was measured in his criticism but admitted he didn’t consider the failing his own.
“I’m hesitant to like point the finger,” he admitted.
“I don’t want to be that guy because we all make mistakes, but today being whatever, how much of the pace, is not a true reflection.
“Personally, I don’t feel any different to the last few weeks in terms of I still feel good and positive in the car.
“Maybe that’s where a lot of that frustration lies is that, on paper it looks s**t but we’re okay.
“We just did a, I won’t say a s**t job, but we did a less than satisfactory job at making make it work for us.”
Read more F1 news from Mat Coch on SpeedCafe.
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