Daniel Ricciardo feels McLaren could have been fourth in Silverstone qualifying
Daniel Ricciardo will start the F1 sprint race in seventh, but says he can't help but feel his McLaren should have been higher up the grid.
Daniel Ricciardo will start the first ever Formula 1 sprint race in seventh. (Motorsport Images/McLaren)
"On the whole it was a really positive day," said the Australian, who has been searching for his normal optimism after a mixed start to the season.
"I had really good speed all through qualifying, made some good steps and felt good with the car, so that’s important."
"I can’t help but feel frustrated because it’s so close to P4 and it’s always when you’re at the back of the close pack that you feel it most."
"But anyway, it’s progress, it’s good, it’s positive."
"It’s always easy to find that half a tenth with hindsight and I feel it probably was there."
The first ever Formula 1 sprint race will take drivers into the unknown on Saturday.
"Sprint qualifying tomorrow, we’ll see what happens, get a good start, make some positions and get up to fourth, where I believe we could've been today."
"That’s the plan tomorrow."
Lando Norris in the garage at Silverstone. (Motorsport Images.McLaren)
Teammate Lando Norris was sixth fastest at his home Grand Prix.
"Tricky day with this different format," said Norris, "just because of the time limits you have."
"With less track time than we're used to, it makes it much more challenging to know what decisions to make, and you take a couple more gambles based on the information you have."
Norris had a different outlook on the session to Ricciardo.
"Saying that, I don’t think we could've done a lot better than sixth."
"Maybe there was something here or there, but at the end of the day I'm satisfied with where we are."
"We have FP2 tomorrow to prepare for the sprint, so we’ll see what we can do."
