Daniel Ricciardo believes RB can fight the top five teams in Formula 1 with well-executed weekends after both its cars got into Q3 at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
Ricciardo made a breakthrough in Miami with a positive Sprint seeing him bag fourth, but he was unable to replicate that result and slipped to a shock Q1 elimination.
However, RB has again proven to be competitive at Imola, as Ricciardo and team-mate Yuki Tsunoda qualified inside the top 10, splitting Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton.
But despite securing his first Q3 appearance this season, Ricciardo has conceded that he wasn’t satisfied to be lagging a few tenths behind Tsunoda in the sister car.
“Someone told me it’s my first Q3 since Mexico. Which is a relief, but it’s also kind of sad,” Ricciardo admitted.
“But yeah, I’m happy as a collective for the team. Both of us in Q3 were good.
“Am I happy to still be missing a few tenths [compared to Tsunoda]? No, obviously.
“But how the weekend was going, we did make progress. So that’s promising. But yeah, I don’t know if it’s a home track for Yuki.
“He was really quick from the start. So yeah, obviously credit to him.
“I felt good in the second and third sector. Just [on] the first sector. I was really struggling with the high-speed changes of direction.
“Qualifying’s done. But I’m still going to have a long look tonight and see what I was messing up,” said the Australian driver after the session.
Daniel Ricciardo (AUS) RB. 18.05.2024. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 7, Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, Imola, Italy, Qualifying Day.
Despite the frustrations at ending up behind his team-mate once again this season, Ricciardo revealed that he now feels much more confident with his VCARB 01 car.
Asked whether RB can fight with the established top five teams on a regular basis, he said the last races are “encouraging” considering the range of tracks to be used.
“But obviously most of the time this year it’s been Yuki,” he conceded. “But obviously Miami, the Saturday was me. The Sunday was Yuki.
“So, yeah. I feel like if we put a lap together, we’re a Q3 car. And I think that’s really encouraging.
“We are definitely engine-posted to those top teams. Obviously, next week’s a completely different track. Hopefully, we’re here [in Q3] again.”
Although things are still not “perfect,” Ricciardo divulged he is in a much better place amid his claim back in Japan that he was struggling to get in the right headspace.
“I’m still not… I’d say perfect. None of us are perfect. But I know I’m still… It’s still a bit more, you know, in me,” explained Ricciardo.
“But when I get it together, I think it comes in pretty good form like it was in Miami. So, it’s just trying to find that consistency within myself now.
“But I do have more comfort in the car, so I think that consistency will start to come more naturally.
“But, yeah, definitely arriving into the weekend now with, let’s say, good headspace and knowing whether we’ve got the car underneath us.”
