F1 News

Daniel Ricciardo doesn't understand performance defecit to Yuki Tsunoda

Daniel Ricciardo perplexed by his own performance: 'I feel zapped now'

26 May at 08:50
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  • Toby Nixon

Daniel Ricciardo was out-qualified once again by his VCARB teammate Yuki Tsunoda in Monaco. Tsunoda qualified in 8th place and has been impressive all year for the VCARB team, scoring 15 points this season compared to Ricciardo's five. The Australian originally qualified in 13th place, but will now start the race from 12th after Nico Hulkenberg's Haas was disqualified from qualifying due to a technical infringement. Ricciardo told GPblog and others in the paddock after qualifying that he was 'zapped' by his teammate's speed. 

The Honey Badger was visibly deflated after being out-qualified by his teammate once again. "It was weird," said Ricciardo. "I think Q1 actually went relatively well. We got through and we were maybe P11 or something. We were obviously there, close to what would have been a Q3 shot. I think in Q2, everyone was able to go first time lap, and it felt like that was what everyone was converting to and making the tyres work. Then for me personally, I struggled to get everything out of the tyre on the first lap. So, I was able to find maybe three-tenths, but everyone else was able to find whatever it was six, seven-tenths. That was where I struggled, especially once I got to the tight stuff in the middle sector, I was honestly struggling with the front," said the dejected Australian.

Ricciardo self-critical with his performance: 'zapped' by pace

The former Red Bull driver continued: "I had a lot of energy going into qualifying and I certainly feel a bit zapped now because the results are not good enough and it's not where I think I can be. I'm not disappointed with the way I drove, I simply wasn't quite getting the most out of it wherever I needed to. I can say this and that, but I need to try and understand what I was doing differently to Yuki and try to understand that.

"Saying that doesn't change the results, so I have to suck this one up." Concluded Ricciardo, who will be hoping his race pace is better than his qualifying pace.