Daniel Ricciardo’s struggles at the Australian GP have continued after a disappointing result in Qualifying. The 34-year-old will start the race in P18 on Sunday.
Daniel Ricciardo (via IMAGO).
had a disappointing end to Qualifying at the . The local hero was expected to achieve great results in his home race. However, the 34-year-old experienced an early elimination in Q1 due to exceeding track limits on Turn 4. Therefore, Ricciardo shared his emotions after the session, expressing that he was ‘all over’ the exit of Turn 4 and consequently violated track limits at the corner. The Australian driver admitted that he crossed the line thinking he had made it past Q1, but his time was still slower. Despite his efforts, Ricciardo still feels uncomfortable with certain aspects of the VCARB01, as demonstrated during the qualifying session.
Ricciardo stated that he did everything he could to achieve a good result in Quali. However, the issues on turn 4 added to the disappointment of his 2024 season. The 34-year-old mentioned that he was giving his best but was unable to perform as he desired. As a result, the early season struggles continue for the Honey Badger.
In contrast to Daniel Ricciardo, Tsunoda had a much better finish to Qualifying at Albert Park. Tsunoda managed to set a lap time of 1:16:788, which helped him qualify in P8. Therefore, the Japanese driver will have a more comfortable start to the race compared to his Australian counterpart.
Tsunoda expressed that he felt confident after Friday’s FP1, which contributed to his ability to squeeze out extra milliseconds during qualifying. It will be interesting to see how Ricciardo performs against his Japanese teammate at the Australian GP.
VisaCashAppRB demonstrated great pace from Tsunoda’s competitor during the session. Even Ricciardo showed good pace and could have advanced to the Q2 session. However, the violation prevented him from doing so. Consequently, the Aussie will have to push extra hard to have any chance of scoring points at the Australian GP.