“Maybe the wet is not a bad thing for us,” Ricciardo says in Spa

Despite ending Friday at the Belgian Grand Prix in the garage, Daniel Ricciardo says he is excited by RB’s early signs revealed during the first “proper test day” at Spa, with the prospect of a wet qualifying session being welcomed by the Australian. 

Looking to bounce back from his Hungarian Grand Prix to forget, Ricciardo was keen to maximise the entire opening hour of practice, remaining out on track even after spinning at La Source as he set off on his primary push lap.

Narrowly avoiding the barriers, Ricciardo reset to record the eighth-fastest time on significantly flat-spotted medium tyres. 

The 35-year-old’s next lap wasn’t an improvement, keeping him tied down in P14 on the punished tyres before retreating to the pitlane. 

The soft tyre was a refreshing change for Ricciardo, with the Australian boasting a time of 1:44.950s which promoted him to P7.

Despite sitting at a 1.5-second deficit to the benchmark, Ricciardo had set the fastest first sector, travelling through the opening six corners and down the Kemmel Straight in 30.364s.

But, after lighting up the timing sheets, Ricciardo drifted back to P13.

Emerging from the pit exit with just over ten minutes on the clock, the #3 completed a solo out-lap, re-entering the pits for pitstop practice.

He rejoined the circuit for a first taste of race simulations, recording slower times and ending the session in P13.

“I heard rain last night, woke me up a few times, so I was expecting a typical Spa day – very wet and cloudy, but yeah, we had sun!” Ricciardo said.

“We had dry conditions so it was nice, it’s nice to drive here.

“They resurfaced a lot of the track so a lot of corners have a lot more grip now which feels good.

“But yeah, today was a proper test day for us.

“We tried lots of things and I was happier in FP2, but we still need to find a few more tenths for tomorrow.

“On tomorrow, now they say it’s probably wet, so who knows.”

Daniel Ricciardo on track during practice at the Belgian Grand Prix. Image: Mark Thompson/Getty Images // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool.

RB made some interim adjustments ahead of the afternoon session, seeing Ricciardo starting the second hour of practice within the midfield.

He quickly aborted his medium tyres to commence the team’s low-fuel soft tyre runs, still failing to break into the top ten.

Falling back into P14, Ricciardo couldn’t cut down on the 1.5-second interval to the leader, prompting the switch to the high-fuel portion of his run plan.

His first push lap out of the pits, still on the soft tyre, was a 1:49.797s.

The time confirmed his change in strategy and brought confidence to the RB pit wall as it sat around one-tenth slower than Lewis Hamilton’s high-fuel attempt.

Moments later, however, Ricciardo said the car felt “strange”, specifying that the VCARB 01 was acting “wobbly” as if the roll bar had broken.

The team identified the issue based on the telemetry fed to the pit wall, calling Ricciardo in for an early end to his final Friday practice session.

Although the timing sheets may not have reflected such positivity with P13 and P14 finishes, Ricciardo ended the first day confident in his team’s long-run capabilities for the 44-lap main event.

“I think Sunday looks dry so at least we got some understanding today,” he said.

“If it is a dry race, we are comfortable with where we are… let’s say, with what we learnt today.

“But yeah, if quali is wet and that’s the only wet session, it’s… yeah, these ones, they’re always exciting.

“You don’t have much time to figure it out and find the grip and, yeah, I’d say the new asphalt in some places on track, is that going to be grippier in the wet? Is it going to be more slippery? 

“So it’s a challenge for all of us but we’ve all driven around Spa before in the wet because it always rains here, so, we’ll figure it out.

“Looking at where we were today in the dry, maybe the wet is not a bad thing for us.”

Wet weather is expected to bother the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps for the entirety of Saturday’s schedule, bringing a familiar challenge to FP3 and Qualifying for the drivers who have all experienced Spa’s wet temperament across their careers.

The final practice session, potentially proving critical for data gathering, will kick off at 8:30 PM tonight, followed by Qualifying at Midnight.

Image: Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images // Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool

2024 Belgian Grand Prix Schedule:

Friday, July 26th:

FP1: 21:30 – 22:30

Saturday, July 27th:

FP2: 01:00 – 02:00

FP3: 20:30 – 21:30

Sunday, July 28th:

Qualifying: 00:00 – 01:00

Race Start: 23:00

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