F1 Spanish Grand Prix: Daniel Ricciardo and VCARB licking their wounds after ‘poor weekend’

So far as weekends go, this was one to overlook for Daniel Ricciardo and the whole Visa Money App RB F1 Staff.

Whereas VCARB arrived at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya hopeful {that a} sequence of upgrades to the RB01 would unlock further efficiency, from the opening laps of FP1 it was clear that they might be on the again foot. That continued into qualifying — which noticed Ricciardo and teammate Yuki Tsunoda eradicated in Q1 — and prolonged into the race itself. Each Ricciardo and Tsunoda completed outdoors the factors, leaving VCARB to lick their wounds after their first points-less weekend because the Chinese language Grand Prix again in April.

Staff Principal Laurent Mekies was blunt in his evaluation.

“We got here right here with excessive hopes for the upgrades that everybody again within the manufacturing facility has labored so exhausting to design and produce as a part of our aggressive growth technique, started Mekies within the crew’s post-race report. “Sadly, proper from the beginning of Free Observe we had been missing tempo in each session.

“There isn’t a level denying this was a poor weekend for us and though the gaps had been very small, we’re not going to make excuses for the very fact we simply weren’t aggressive,” continued the VCARB boss. “Given our beginning positions, it might have required some uncommon circumstances – rain, a security automotive – however the race was fairly linear and whereas each drivers did their finest, we depart Spain with nothing to point out for our efforts.”

Tsunoda stored his evaluation quick and to the purpose.

“It was a troublesome race, through which I struggled. The dealing with of the automotive was positively not straightforward, and I didn’t really feel as snug as I usually do,” described Tsunoda. “One thing wasn’t fairly proper, and we’ll analyse every part that occurred to grasp what didn’t work nicely and are available again stronger in Austria.”

Picture by Peter Fox/Getty Pictures

Ricciardo, typically the optimistic one within the crew’s storage, did his finest to place a optimistic spin on issues. The Australian driver managed to spotlight some shiny spots on a dismal day in Barcelona.

“It’s clearly disappointing ending in P15, however I’m proud of my race and the way we managed it as a crew with the 2 stops. I feel yesterday I simply missed a contact in qualifying, however actually, immediately I really feel like I [maximized] it with a superb race,” described Ricciardo. “We managed the [tires] and pushed after we wanted to, so sadly, I feel we simply didn’t have extra to point out this weekend. There’s definitely tons to study from weekends like this.

“We take a couple of little positives and some extra issues to work on as a result of we appear to be lacking one thing with the brand new bundle. It’s a fast turnaround, so we’ll work on it tonight, making an attempt to grasp extra in preparation for Austria subsequent week.”

The VCARB boss concluded with a little bit of a problem to the crew.

“Now, our complete group faces a stern check to try to make some progress within the only a few days obtainable till we’re again on monitor on the Crimson Bull Ring,” stated Mekies. “It’s a really lengthy season, so there are certain to be some powerful weekends. We simply should put this one behind us, we should not get downhearted however as an alternative, look forward and deal with preventing again instantly in a couple of days’ time in Austria.”

Fortunately for the crew, they won’t have an excessive amount of time to lick these wounds, as Crimson Bull Ring awaits.