F1 | Hungarian GP | Ricciardo upbeat after difficult qualifying session in Hungary
McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo hopes that he can make his way through the field on fresher tyres, after only managing 11th on the grid for tomorrow’s Hungarian Grand Prix.
Daniel Ricciardo has admitted that he still has lots to learn about this year’s car as the Formula 1 circus approaches the summer shutdown.
Ricciardo, who won the 2014 edition of the Hungarian Grand Prix, had a testing qualifying session as the Australian just missed out on Q3 by less than a tenth, with Ricciardo starting 11th on the grid for tomorrow’s race.
However, despite missing out on Q3, Ricciardo is optimistic for tomorrow’s race when speaking to selected media outlets, including MotorLat.com.
“I will watch everyone suffer on soft tyres and go from there, I will start on softs as well, but they will just suffer more than me. I think we will be in a better position tomorrow; today, the goal was definitely Q3 but maybe by tomorrow afternoon, we’ll be saying this was a good result,” Ricciardo said when asked by MotorLat.com about finishing P11 in qualifying.
Ricciardo also explained why his final run in Q2 was compromised; although he felt that it didn’t affect the lap time too much.
“It was a little snap-on exit (of Turn 6-7), it didn’t really delay much in terms of the throttle, but sure it scrubbed off a little bit of the speed, but other than that the lap itself, I think, was decent, in terms of their being no big errors or losing a big chunk of lap time it was just a little bit here and there.”
“The chicane didn’t help, but it’s tight this year but obviously not on the right end of it often enough.”
Ricciardo has also admitted that there is still plenty to learn about this year’s car, as the teams slowly start to focus on the development of the radically different 2022 cars.
“I am certainly open-minded on the step-up I can make; I think realistically it will be just small bits here and there; I don’t think the development is going to be a game-changer with everyone focused on 2022; we will have bits and pieces, but we’re not going to turn the car upside down, so I think it’s more up to me to see more what time in the car does for my progress with the 2021 chassis.
“There is still a lot to learn about this year’s car and the characteristics and to make sure that although the cars are different next year, we can understand this year’s car so that it gives some understanding of where to put it for next year. Anything I can learn this year will be beneficial regardless.”
