Daniel Ricciardo frustrated with changing performance in Zandvoort qualifying
Daniel Ricciardo says he has a lot to feel good about despite falling off the pace at the end of qualifying to set the tenth fastest time.
Daniel Ricciardo on track at Zandvoort. (Motorsport Images/McLaren)
The Australian driver says neither he nor his McLaren team can yet account for the change in his performance between the qualifying sessions.
"75 per cent of quali, in Q1 and Q2, was really good relative to where we thought we were."
"There were a lot of things that felt good, and the lap times were good. It came to me quite naturally and normally, and I was able to improve a little bit in each corner."
"I felt comfortable."
Ricciardo was able to dial in slightly on the issue, but said it would require more time to find the full answer.
"In Q3 I felt like I was lacking grip from Turn One, so it was a bit more of a struggle from then on."
"We don’t really know why yet."
"The track might have changed and maybe we just missed something, but we’ll look into that and try to find an answer.
"It’s frustrating as Q3 dictates the grid and that was our worst run in qualifying.
"There’re some positives to take from today, but still some unknowns."
"We’ll keep working at it.”
Daniel Ricciardo settles in to his McLaren before qualifying at Zandvoort. (Motorsport Images/McLaren)
Teammate Lando Norris experienced similar struggles, and will start Sunday's grand prix in thirteenth.
"Not the day I wanted or that we were expecting," he said. "I just didn't do the best job."
"I didn't feel too confident in qualifying to hook it all up and put it together."
"It’s probably the closest qualifying we’ve had all year."
"It's a shame as this is the race we really needed to be strong, but we just didn't manage it."
Norris said that multiple red flags in the session impacted his result.
"We also didn't get that last opportunity to try again because of the red flag."
"It’s going to make our day tomorrow very tricky, but I think we’re definitely quicker than a few other cars ahead of us, so hopefully we can still score some points."
