Daniel Ricciardo, the Australian driver of Red Bull Racing (RB), showcased his impressive skills during the qualifying session of the Austrian Grand Prix. He praised the progress made by RB throughout the weekend, especially with their unique Formula 1 car. RB took advantage of the race at the Red Bull Ring to gain a deeper understanding of the issues that arose from their extensive upgrade package in Spain, which resulted in a sudden drop in performance.
Prior to the on-track actions getting underway, Ricciardo revealed that he and his teammate Yuki Tsunoda would be using a combination of new and old components in their cars. Despite being eliminated in the first segment of the Qualifying Sprint early in the weekend, Ricciardo made a strong comeback, narrowly missing out on a spot in the top ten battle by just 0.010 seconds. When asked about his feelings regarding this close call, Ricciardo expressed a sense of frustration but acknowledged the overall positive performance.
Reflecting on his qualifying lap, Ricciardo stated that he was pleased with his performance and continuously managed to improve his time in small increments. He believed they had reached a point where there wasn’t much more to gain, except for a few milliseconds. Ricciardo attributed RB’s improved performance to the extended race time provided by the Sprint format, which allowed them to optimize the new parts on their VCARB 01 car.
Although Ricciardo recognized the progress made by RB, he remained cautious in making predictions about his chances of scoring points. He confirmed that the team was still experimenting with different car specifications, aiming to find the ideal configuration. Ricciardo expressed hope for a competitive performance in the next race, but acknowledged the uncertainties associated with factors such as fuel load and track conditions. He anticipated that a two-stop strategy might be necessary due to the hot track conditions, with the choice between medium and hard tires playing a crucial role in determining the outcome.
