Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda faced unexpected challenges during the Spanish Grand Prix qualifying, landing in positions far below their expectations.
- Ricciardo, starting in 18th, admitted surprise despite recent car upgrades, notably a new floor.
- Both drivers found the cars felt better than in practice, but the key speed still eluded them.
- The struggle centered on mastering the balance and load shifts with the new car upgrades.
- Looking ahead, Ricciardo remains optimistic, focusing on potential improvements in upcoming races.
In a surprising turn of events at the Spanish Grand Prix, Daniel Ricciardo and his teammate Yuki Tsunoda found themselves qualifying in positions that were much lower than anticipated. Ricciardo expressed his unexpected disappointment, landing in 18th place despite recent enhancements to his car, including a new floor upgrade.
While the upgrades were expected to boost performance, Ricciardo noted that the car felt more cohesive and balanced compared to previous practice sessions. He remarked, ‘Of course, there are some corners where you feel you should be flat there or whatever, so you know you may be missing a bit of load, but in general, I felt much better than yesterday.’ This sentiment underscored the puzzling outcome, as the expected improvement didn’t translate into better qualifying results.
Yuki Tsunoda, starting just ahead in 17th, echoed Ricciardo’s sentiments, sharing his own disappointment as he had hoped for at least a 16th place, saying, ‘[I wanted] at least P16. P17 is quite far away from where I wanted or where I was expecting from that lap.’
The primary issue, as noted by Ricciardo, lies in the challenges of optimizing the aero balance and load stemming from the new updates. Despite feeling his quick qualifying lap was strong enough for Q2, the results were still lacking.
Barcelona, known for testing new upgrades due to its representative nature of European tracks, presented a scenario that doesn’t promise well for upcoming races like those in Austria or Silverstone. However, Ricciardo remains positive, saying, ‘On one hand, it’s like, OK, we’ve got some work to do — but at least we’ve got a good few weeks now of proper tests.’ He sees the upcoming races as learning opportunities to better understand and refine the car’s performance.
Despite the hurdles faced in Spain, Ricciardo is optimistic about refining car performance in upcoming races.
