F1 LIVE: Ricciardo looks to put ‘frustrating’ qualifying behind him as Piastri pushes for podium

in Sports

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Daniel Ricciardo was at a loss after a “frustrating” qualifying session that has the Australian starting on the seventh row at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

While there is little mystery over who is the favourite to take out Sunday morning’s race, with Max Verstappen taking pole position, the same can’t be said for Ricciardo’s pace disadvantage to RB teammate Yuki Tsunoda.

Tsunoda will start on the fifth row as he looks to rebound after last week’s intra-team drama, when team orders were enforced to allow Ricciardo to overtake him late in the Bahrain race.

Ricciardo, on the other hand, said he was “confident” going into qualifying but left despondent, not knowing what exactly was behind the pace deficit.

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“It was a very frustrating qualifying,” Ricciardo said.

“Compared to Bahrain, where I was more frustrated with myself because I knew there was more time on the table, today was a little bit more of a mystery. I know where the time was, but I don’t know how we could’ve got it in that session.

“I was confident going into qualifying, and I was feeling quite good in the car, but on the second run, I made a mistake. Nonetheless, we were still in the fight.

“Once in Q2, everyone was improving their lap time, but I felt like I couldn’t get any more out of what I had, and we just plateaued. It wasn’t a matter of understeer or oversteer, but more that I didn’t have the grip compared to the others.”

Fellow Australian Oscar Piastri is in a better position after qualifying fifth, just one spot ahead of McLaren teammate Lando Norris.

Piastri did use one more set of soft tyres than Norris though, which could give the Brit the edge.

“Going into tomorrow, I think we’re in a good position and hopefully we can move forward,” Piastri said.

STARTING GRID:

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

2nd row: Sergio Perez (MEX/Red Bull) Fernando Alonso (ESP/Aston Martin)

3rd row: Oscar Piastri (AUS/McLaren) Lando Norris (GBR/McLaren)

4th row: George Russell (GBR/Mercedes) Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Mercedes)

5th row: Yuki Tsunoda (JPN/RB) Lance Stroll (CAN/Aston Martin)

6th row: Oliver Bearman (GBR/Ferrari) Alex Albon (THA/Williams)

7th row: Kevin Magnussen (DEN/Haas) Daniel Ricciardo (AUS/RB)

8th row: Nico Hülkenberg (GER/Haas) Valtteri Bottas (FIN/Sauber)