Ricciardo says RB is “just not that quick” after double Q1 elimination

Despite gaining comfort and confidence in RB’s upgrade package, the added benefits were not converted into Daniel Ricciardo’s qualifying performance yesterday with the Australian being eliminated in Q1 to start the Spanish Grand Prix from P18.

The six new upgrades RB have adopted this weekend have seemingly put the Faenza-based outfit on the back foot for the Spanish Grand Prix, with this drop in performance after a special outing in Canada being solidified in yesterday’s tight qualifying showdown.

Both Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda were knocked out in the opening Q1 stage of the session and are tonight set to line up from a difficult starting position on Row 9 for the 66-lap race.

The #3 admitted that his team doesn’t fully understand the package that includes a new beam wing, rear wing, floor body, sidepod inlet, engine cover and front corner, saying that they’re “just not that quick”.

Despite this, Ricciardo said the feeling in his VCARB 01 is “much more together” than it has been throughout the weekend.

“I’d like to think there’s still a bit more on the package to figure out, but that’s something obviously we’ll keep doing,” Ricciardo said.

“On the flip side, I do feel like yesterday we were much more out of balance and actually today in quali the car felt much more together. 

“I actually didn’t think the car felt too bad in quali. 

“Of course, there’s some corners where you feel it should be flat there or whatever so you know you may be still missing a bit of load, but in general, it was… I felt much better than yesterday so to still be back where we are, I think that’s still a bit more defined, I guess, so yeah I don’t know. 

“I haven’t spoken to Yuki yet, but I don’t think he was too unhappy probably with how the car felt. 

“I think we’re just not that quick.

“Normally you put three sets in Q1, it never guarantees you a spot in Q2, but it gives you a much better chance.

“Obviously, to still not make it, I think it just shows that we just at the moment don’t have the pace with this current config so we’ll keep chipping away.”

Daniel Ricciardo in the Pitlane during qualifying at the Spanish Gardn Prix. Image: Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool.

Ricciardo described his running on Friday as a “fight”, prompting RB to make some “bigger changes” ahead of the all-important qualifying session.

At the green light of Q1, those changes did put Ricciardo in a more comfortable position in the cockpit, giving the #3 more confidence that unfortunately did not reflect on the timing sheets.

“Yesterday felt like we were still trying to fight it a little bit so we did make some bigger changes overnight.

“We probably haven’t perfected it right now and maybe that’s the encouraging thing, but I feel like we did make a good job overnight to get the car in a better place, so from a feeling, it felt better today. 

“I had more comfort and confidence in it but unfortunately on this thing, the stopwatch, we’re still where we were yesterday.”

Ricciardo was the third driver out on track for the opening 18-minute showdown, maximising his chances at an optimistic place in Q2.

Using three sets of tyres across the session, the RB driver secured an opening time of a 1:13.771s. 

He returned to the garage, out of sync with the bulk of the grid, before setting off once again. 

His second attempt promoted him out of the elimination zone, but only just as he sat in an at-risk P15.

Naturally drifting back, Ricciardo’s third and final attempt reinstated his place in 15th, however, that was short-lived. 

He was demoted by both Aston Martins and with his teammate also improving, ended the session with a difficult task lying ahead of him tonight.

“With the floors, when you get a new floor, obviously that’s where these cars are so powerful in terms of the load and the aero characteristics, so it’s just trying to get on top of that,” Ricciardo said.

“I felt like we made a good step today, but when Pierre [Hamelin, Ricciardo’s race engineer] told me P18, I think it was, we ended up, I didn’t really have anything to say on the radio because I was honestly quite surprised. 

“I knew we’re not going to be at P10, but I honestly thought that would have been good enough for Q2.”

Ricciardo will take the start in P18, with Tsunoda sharing the ninth row after the pairing qualified with exactly nine-hundredths between themselves.

“There’s still more to find and we’ll keep chipping away.

“[The race] is going to come around quick, but we have a few races ahead of us with similar track characteristics, so we obviously need to figure out together the things we’re missing.”

Lights out for the Spanish Grand Prix will take place at 11:00 PM (AEST).

Image: Peter Fox/Getty Images // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool

2024 Spanish Grand Prix Schedule:

Friday June 21st:

FP1: 21:30 – 22:30

Saturday June 22nd:

FP2: 01:00 – 02:00

FP3: 20:30 – 21:30

Sunday June 23rd:

Qualifying: 00:00 – 01:00

Race: 23:00

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