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'You don’t get many second chances' – Ricciardo ‘frustrated’ with finishing outside the points in Zandvoort
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Daniel Ricciardo has reflected on a discouraging weekend for RB as both drivers failed to reach the top 10, with split strategies leaving them stuck in dirty air for the majority of the race.
RB are looking to defend their sixth position in the constructors’ standings over the remaining races as Haas find themselves just seven points adrift, but the Italian team got off to a poor start after the summer break.
While Ricciardo was knocked out of the first round of qualifying, his team mate Yuki Tsunoda set the 12th quickest lap time before going on to slide down the order during the Dutch Grand Prix, finishing in P17.
The Australian had a more successful race, improving to P12, but with Aston Martin and Alpine both scoring points, Ricciardo pointed to this season’s tight midfield battle as a reason for RB’s struggles.
RB are in a close midfield battle this season
“In this midfield, when a car is working on a particular circuit, you can make such a big jump,” he said following the race. “Our balance today felt points-worthy, but there were just some cars and drivers that were operating at a higher level. We have to just accept that sometimes.
“I’m happier today with the big picture. It’s hard to dissect something so soon after qualifying, especially when it doesn’t go well. I think deep down I was just frustrated and disappointed in myself more than anything.
“Yes, in hindsight we could’ve done a few things on the car to help, but at the end of the day we also have to manage a tricky car at times. I was just disappointed in myself not to handle that better and as I said yesterday, in Q1 if you’re out, it’s over. You don’t get many second chances.”
Tsunoda is keeping his seat with RB for next season
Tsunoda lost a position in the early stages of the race before going on to pit twice in relatively quick succession, leaving him stuck in traffic for the majority of the afternoon.
He explained that RB “split the strategy across the garage” but “it didn’t go the way that we wanted”.
“When we pitted, the lap we pitted on, everything was too late,” Tsunoda added. “When I was rejoining the track I was always behind cars and just always stuck in the dirty air. To be honest, I don’t think we executed anything from our car. I’m not blaming anything on strategy but the timing of when we did it was completely wrong.
“Qualifying was alright and we were lucky on pace as well, but I think I maximised what we can do with our car. To be honest, the race was far away from the place we wanted. I at least wanted to achieve something, but at the end of this race we didn’t take anything, so it was pretty tough.”
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