Ricciardo frustrated after “boring” pointless showing

Daniel Ricciardo’s best qualifying of the season counted for nothing almost immediately when the lights went out to start the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix on Sunday, the Australian immediately dropping out of the top 10 on the way to finishing 13th in what he called a “boring” race.

The RB driver made Q3 for the first time this season in a Grand Prix – he qualified fourth for the Sprint at the previous event in Miami – and from ninth on the grid and with teammate Yuki Tsunoda (seventh) immediately ahead, the team based in nearby Faenza had high hopes for a strong showing at home.

But both RB cars bogged down off the start, Tsunoda and Ricciardo each losing two places. Ricciardo was immediately passed by Nico Hulkenberg (Haas) and Sergio Perez (Red Bull), who’d started from 10th and 11th respectively.

“I don’t know the facts yet but honestly from my side, nothing felt like it went wrong,” Ricciardo said of his start.

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“You know if you botch it with the way you drop the clutch, you’ve got a pretty good idea when it’s your fault. I didn’t feel like anything went wrong, so let’s wait and see … as a team we’ve got to figure that out because we lack consistency there.

“It immediately drops us out of the points and then we’re in a train of cars that we feel, in clear air, that we’re quicker than. But once we’re there at their rhythm and at their pace in a bit of dirty air, it’s a weakness for us at the moment.”

Ricciardo spent just one of the 63 laps inside the top 10 as the majority of the field ran a one-stop medium/hard tyre strategy at Imola, which the 34-year-old said made for a dull afternoon.

“Quite a boring race, I want to say,” he said

“I don’t want to be negative, but just stating some facts. It’s a great track, but Sundays aren’t very nice around here. It’s that balance where we respect the old-school circuits and as a Saturday [qualifying] experience they’re great, but as a Sunday experience, seeing a lot of drivers’ faces after the race, we’re all a little bit ‘that was a long one …’.

“When we had clear air, the pace was OK. But when you’re out of position, it’s tough. Some other cars with alternate strategies came through at the end, [Aston Martin’s Lance] Stroll, [Haas’ Kevin] Magnussen, so maybe there’s something there as well we missed.”

While Tsunoda was able to salvage a point in 10th place, Ricciardo’s frustrating afternoon had a forgettable ending as he was passed by Magnussen for 12th on the final lap.

“In that midfield that we’re in, it’s obviously about small details,” he said.

“It starts with me, but then there’s little things like the start – if we work hard for the qualifying position, we need to consolidate that. If me and Yuki took off and stayed in position in front of … Hulkenberg is the best example … I feel we could have stayed in front the whole race and probably gone a little bit better with the pack.

“I’m not saying we had the pace of the top-eight cars, but our race looks completely different. Small details make big differences, but we do have a decent package … it’s just those one-percenters.”

Daniel's Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix by the numbers

• Qualified: 9th
• Race: 13th
• Fastest lap: 1min 21.569secs (19th), lap 13
• Points this event: 0
• Points this season: 5 (14th in world championship)