Verstappen 5th & Ricciardo spins in Australia GP qualifying
Red Bull had a mixed session in qualifying ahead of the Australian Grand Prix, with Max Verstappen qualifying 5th and Daniel Ricciardo crashing out.
Ricciardo’s crash came just after the start of Q3, with his vehicle stepping out mid-corner on turn 14 and sliding backwards into a tyre wall. The incident lead to qualifying being red-flagged.
Although the driver was unhurt in the collision, it ended in a frustrating early end to qualifying for the Australian driver in his home race. He will ultimately start Sunday’s race 10th on the grid.
Speaking after the race, Ricciardo said, “That was a tough one today. I don’t crash into the barriers often and the last place I want to do that is at home. But I feel I crashed for the right reason, as I was basically pushing and trying to find the limit and these things happen, so let’s say I’m not disappointed by the approach, it was just more of a frustrating outcome, starting 10th instead of being under the top 5.
“I feel for the mechanics, because they’ve had a long week and now they’ve got a long night ahead of them. I knew the crowds would have also preferred to see me further up the grid and it would have been nice to put on a better performance than that but tomorrow is where the points are.
“To get a good start in the race will be the key. I saved a set of ultrasofts in Q2, I know that not everyone in front of me has, so maybe that gives me a chance.”
When qualifying restarted, Verstappen posted a lap of 1:23.485, which cut just under 3 seconds off of his final practice time. Speaking after the race, Verstappen felt the team improved as the weekend went on, and were now hoping for a good start in the race itself.
The Dutch driver said, “It’s been a bit of a tough weekend in general, I haven’t done as much running as I would have liked. Qualifying was pretty much the first time I managed to string some laps together uninterrupted. This morning we didn’t have the balance and therefore couldn’t find the rhythm, so we tried a few things that unfortunately didn’t work how we would have liked.
“Heading into qualifying we found some positives and built it up lap by lap, after that I kept improving, the balance got better and I managed to have a fairly good qualifying. The car is better balanced now but it is clear to see we still a have to gain a bit. Tomorrow it is important for me to have a quick and clean start and let the guys in front battle it out. That could then lead to some opportunities.
“We will keep working this evening to improve and find some more pace ready for tomorrow’s race.”