Ricciardo has “no concerns” after “a good day” in Canada

Albeit in unrepresentative circumstances, Daniel Ricciardo is taking the positives from this morning’s wet weather running after finishing FP3 with the fifth fastest time, saying that he has “no concerns and all-round love and happiness”.

Across the span of the two hours of practice on Friday, Ricciardo completed over 30 laps, a substantial effort compared to some of his more hesitant competitors.

In FP1, both RB drivers promoted themselves into the top four fastest times, with Ricciardo leading over his teammate for the entire session. 

Ricciardo had one major mishap during the opening hour, taking a bath in the hidden but deep puddle on the grass at Turn 4. 

Inevitably, he drifted down the order, seeing the ‘Honey Badger’, who is sporting a creative syrup-inspired helmet design this weekend, ending FP1 in 11th place. 

“Just before FP1 there was hail so it was looking like we might not do any driving today so, actually, to end the day with quite a few laps in FP2 and doing a little bit on both compounds, quite happy,” Ricciardo said.

“Today was a good day, I felt no concerns and all-round love and happiness!”

The second session gave the entire grid a momentary reprieve from the wet weather, with FP2 starting under predominantly dry conditions barring a light sprinkle. 

Ricciardo started this session on the soft compound tyre, finding grip early on to set what would become his fastest time of the day in P5.

During the session, traffic became a big issue as drivers grew cautious of leaving the dry line on the slick tyres.

As a result, the #3 was forced to abort one of his 23 laps of the session.

Ricciardo’s fastest time of the day was a 1:16.731s, a nice confidence boost, albeit unrepresentative, ahead of qualifying. 

“We just had the debrief now so, we’ll always like fine-tune but I don’t think we’re going to do too much tonight, I think yeah, just some little bits and pieces.

“We feel like we’re in a good place, so hopefully it’s an early night tonight and everyone can get out of here and have a good night’s sleep.”

Free of complaints about his VCARB 01, Ricciardo was also satisfied with the new track resurfacing despite others’ complaints of slow drainage. 

“[The new surface] is very smooth, a lot smoother than it used to be so it seems to be a bit easier on the tyres so that’s something we found.

“It dried pretty quick this morning from extremes at the start of the session to then slicks at the end.”

A decade on from his maiden Formula 1 victory at the Canadian Grand Prix, Ricciardo has come into the weekend with his sights set on a top-ten finish.

That all depends on his qualifying efforts tomorrow, with Ricciardo on alert amidst a potentially rainy Saturday and Sunday forecast.

“I think tomorrow, if it’s these mixed conditions, I think we’re going to have to stay on our toes and it will be a lot about being on the right tyre at the right time and going for it.”

FP3 kicks off at 2:30 AM (AEST), followed by qualifying at 6:00 AM (AEST).

Image: Clive Rose/Getty Images // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool

2024 Canadian Grand Prix Schedule:

Saturday June 8th:

FP1: 3:30 – 4:30

FP2: 7:00 – 8:00

Sunday June 9th:

FP3: 2:30 – 3:30

Qualifying: 6:00 – 7:00

Monday June 10th:

Race: 4:00

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