Bahrain GP LIVE: ‘Anything can happen’ as Daniel Ricciardo eyes strong start to new F1 season

Daniel Ricciardo admitted to being “disappointed” with his qualifying performance but added “anything can happen” ahead of the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.

Ricciardo will start Sunday morning’s (2am AEDT) race in 14th and three places behind teammate Yuki Tsunoda despite RB emerging as a dark horse of sorts after an impressive showing at testing and the opening day of practice.

While Red Bull was a way off the session-topping pace during practice there weren’t any real concerns that last year’s champions wouldn’t rise up again when they started pushing hard, both on the engines and tyres.

That proved to be the case as Max Verstappen claimed pole, with Charles Leclerc starting alongside the Red Bull driver on the front row with Sergio Perez in third.

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Ricciardo is looking to impress in the 2024 season as he hopes to take Perez’s seat at Red Bull, should it become vacant in 2025 if the team decides not to renew his contract.

The underwhelming qualifying result though puts Ricciardo on the backfoot when it comes to making an immediate statement at the season-opener.

“I didn’t drive s*** or anything, but there was just some … I never really crossed the line being like yeah, I did a clear lap. There was always [a feeling of] I know I can make time at Turn 1, or Turn 4,” Ricciardo told Sky Sports after qualifying.

“There was always some parts on the track where I knew there was lap time, but I never really was able to put it together.

“Even if I improved a little bit, then I’d probably lose a bit in the next corner, so it kind of seesawed a bit. I was never progressively gaining.”

Despite that, Ricciardo is still confident of being in the battle for points and told reporters that the unpredictability of opening day could always fall in his favour.

“Anything can happen as well. Some people might be excited. Some people might be nervous,” Ricciardo added.

“You never know. Just have to keep my head on a swivel and the rest will follow.”

Fellow Australian Oscar Piastri starts eighth, just .504s behind Verstappen, while McLaren teammate Lando Norris is one spot ahead in seventh — and the Brit believes it could have been a front row finish if not for a mistake on the final lap in Q3.

“I messed up sector one,” Norris said of the qualifying session, which left him with “mixed feelings”.

“I just had a little oversteer on the exit of turn one, just as I came on the throttle, and it cost me easily one-and-a-half tenths. And one-and-a-half tenths today was P2. So it’s frustrating.”

STARTING GRID

Front row: Max Verstappen (NED/Red Bull) Charles Leclerc (MON/Ferrari)

2nd row: George Russell (GBR/Mercedes) Carlos Sainz (ESP/Ferrari)

3rd row: Sergio Perez (MEX/Red Bull) Fernando Alonso (ESP/Aston Martin)

4th row: Lando Norris (GBR/McLaren) Oscar Piastri (AUS/McLaren)

5th row: Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Mercedes) Nico Hulkenberg (GER/Haas)

6th row: Yuki Tsunoda (JPN/RB) Lance Stroll (CAN/Aston Martin)

7th row: Alex Albon (THA/Williams) Daniel Ricciardo (AUS/RB)

8th row: Kevin Magnussen (DEN/Haas) Valtteri Bottas (FIN/Sauber)

9throw: Zhou Guanyu (CHN/Sauber) Logan Sargeant (USA/Williams)