Daniel Ricciardo says Renault “have to keep a cool head” going into tomorrow’s Australian Grand Prix, despite a difficult qualifying that saw both of the team’s drivers fail to reach Q3.
Ricciardo missed out by the narrowest of margins and will start his home race in P12, just one position behind his team-mate Nico Hulkenberg.
“I’m clearly disappointed not to make Q3,” Ricciardo said, “especially as it was just half a tenth and that’s something I can find in myself – I lost a bit of time in the first sector on the last run. We had the potential to make Q3 so when you don’t do the perfect lap, it’s frustrating.
“As expected the midfield is really close but I’m feeling optimistic for a strong result tomorrow. I always want to do well at home, but we have to keep a cool head, have a good start and then attack when necessary.”
Renault’s Sporting Director Alan Permane added, “We thought [Ricciardo] had another couple of tenths which would have put him safely into the top ten. We therefore have a little bit of work to do tomorrow, but with the good long run pace we demonstrated yesterday, we are aiming to make up for today and get both cars well into the points.”
[Featured image – Renault F1 Team]