“Already on that last set [of tyres] coming out of Turn 1 I started sliding, had a wobble into Turn 7, then went wide and it was a spiral effect. What was strange is it started already at the start of the lap, so it’s one of those things with this sport where it treats you nice until it doesn’t.
“We’ll look into it, but everything seemed fine approaching the lap, so it’s one of those things. We simply didn’t have the grip on that second set – simple as that.”
AS IT HAPPENED: Follow all the action from qualifying for the Miami Grand Prix
Given his strong run on the medium tyres in the Sprint, Ricciardo expressed optimism that he can make progress from the back of the field in Sunday’s Grand Prix, with his 18th-place grid slot becoming 20th after the application of a penalty picked up in China.
“I genuinely think we’re not an 18th-place car and it was just… hopefully we understand why sometimes the tyres behave as they do,” he continued. “I chatted a little bit to Lando yesterday, we didn’t go into detail, but I just said, ‘It looked like you were on used hard tyres on your Q3 run’, as it was clear as day how bad it looked.
“Hopefully we can maybe get an answer on that. We’re quicker than obviously what we showed, so we’ll just see what tomorrow brings. We have the penalty, so I think we’re dead last, so a contrast to this morning.
News Summary:
- Daniel Ricciardo explains dramatic slump in Miami after going from P4 in Sprint to back of the grid in qualifying
- Check all news and articles from the latest Cricket updates.