Daniel Ricciardo appeared confused and disappointed after qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix. His lap time was slower than his teammate Yuki Tsunoda’s, which was more painful for him than the fact that his lap was deleted for going off track. Ricciardo admitted that even with the track improving, he wouldn’t have been able to match Tsunoda’s performance. This raised concerns about Ricciardo’s ability to perform at his best and pressure is mounting for him to improve.
Ricciardo explained that he felt he gave his all during his lap, but it still wasn’t enough compared to Tsunoda. He was puzzled by this and couldn’t understand why his lap wasn’t as fast as he expected. He also mentioned that Tsunoda’s performance in Q2 was even more impressive, making it clear that he couldn’t have done much better. Ricciardo expressed concern about his performance so far this season and the need to find solutions.
Ricciardo mentioned that there may be some issues with the car that could explain his performance deficit. He wants more checks to be done because he’s not entirely convinced that the car is functioning correctly. However, this raises concerns as it reminds us of a similar situation he faced in Monaco in 2021, where he blamed the car for his lack of pace, only to later discover that it was his driving that needed improvement.
A pesar de que Ricciardo se siente confiado en el coche en general, admite que hay algunas curvas en las que no puede ganar suficiente velocidad. Él cree que el coche es generalmente bueno de conducir, pero los tiempos por vuelta no lo reflejan. Ha progresado el año pasado en mejorar las características del coche para adaptarlo a su estilo, pero ahora duda si hay algo mal con el coche en sí.
Ricciardo no cree que haya diferencias conocidas entre su coche y el de Tsunoda que puedan explicar la diferencia de rendimiento. Sin embargo, seguirá haciendo preguntas y asegurándose de tener un coche en el que cree que puede dar lo mejor de sí. El equipo también examinará de cerca el coche para ver si hay algún problema que necesite ser resuelto. Ricciardo espera que haya algo mal con el coche que se pueda arreglar, pero todavía hay incertidumbre sobre si el problema está en él o en el coche en sí.
