After a disappointing performance at the Spanish Grand Prix, Daniel Ricciardo is looking for answers again as he has finished out of points for the sixth time this season.
The Australian showed a lot of promise to turn off the lights in Barcelona, advancing to Q3 to qualify for the ninth position, but the order gradually broke down as he struggled to find speed.
A change in the middle compound made little difference as the McLaren driver came in 12th, behind race winner Max Verstapen and teammate Lando Norris who battled illness from P11 to eighth.
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Speaking later, Ricciardo admitted that it was a “really, really sad race” because he struggled with his tires working for him.
“I wasn’t there from the start. And it wasn’t like I underestimated – I mean, I did – but it lacked grip overall,” he said.
“I thought at the start of the race, it was very, very slow. I thought, OK, maybe, I don’t know, the temperature is too high or something with the tires.
“You know, [at] In the beginning you are clearly fighting with the car and something like that can happen. We did a three-stop race, so I had four sets of tires today and they were very, very slow so I’m not sure.
“[A] Really, really sad nation. “
With Paddock now settled into the season, McLaren was one of several teams to introduce car upgrades in Barcelona, but Ricciardo was unable to capitalize on the changes he made to his MCL36.
“Everyone was obviously curious about the weekend. You know how they’re going to perform,” he said.
“And yes, it’s one of those races where it was so slow that you almost sound bad, but I mean, you’re hoping something went wrong.
“As you hope we find something that ‘oh, so’ – because [it’s] Probably a factor as to why they’re doing so poorly. “It simply came to our notice then.
This proved true because Ricciardo’s best lap was more than three seconds behind Sergio Perez’s fastest time and 1.6 seconds away from Norris’ best.
The enraged Perez was forced to surrender to Verstapen
“I don’t know for a fact, but I did see cars pass me by and go away very quickly,” Ricciardo added.
McLaren boss Andreas Siddle said, “I’m really disappointed with the way Daniel’s car race went.”
“[It’s] Some of us need to understand because all the tire sets we have installed today have only grip compared to other cars around it.
“[He] We just fell behind in the race, which is something we have to understand because it’s always a shame we couldn’t fight with both cars for points. “
Ricciardo hopes to change his fortunes as the competition moves to his favorite circuit – Monaco – this weekend.
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