From a hero in the Sprint race, with a 4th place finish obtained after a long defense from Carlos Sainz’s attacks, to a disappointing result in the qualifying of the Miami Grand Prix. A Saturday at opposite extremes for Daniel Ricciardoreally eliminated from Q1 with the 18th time. To this, as if that were not enough, we add the penalty inflicted at the end of the last test in China, which included the relegation of three positions on the grid for overtaking under the Safety Car regime.
Poor adhesion
As a result, the Australian from Racing Bulls will leave from the back of the lineup. A day that began with the great emotion of the first points of the season for placing at the foot of the podium, and ended with the cold shower of an elimination that was difficult to accept in qualifying: “This is sport – explained the former Red Bull – it’s highly unpredictable and sometimes things can change very quickly, so at least we enjoyed the morning together with the team. Today’s afternoon was frustrating and, obviously, I’m not satisfied because it’s there a great contrast to the results obtained in the Sprint. I saw Lando’s lap in SQ3 yesterday, where he struggled from the start of the lap, sliding everywhere with the rear on the soft tyres, and honestly I felt the same thing today. I started sliding at the exit of Turn 1 and it got worse for the rest of the lap. There’s no real explanation at the moment. I feel like we have a good car, but I think on the last lap of Q1 the tires were just working at a different level of grip. The warm-up lap went well and the team was also happy with the tyres. We will certainly analyze the problem, hoping to find an explanation. Tomorrow will be a long race, obviously starting last doesn’t help, but we will have many laps available to try to overtake the grid. I will do my best!”.
Tsunoda: 10th but not satisfied
The performance of, however, is more constant Yuki Tsunoda. Eighth in the Sprint Race after the penalty given to Hamilton, the Japanese then obtained enough time to access Q3, in which he recorded a time 46 thousandths lower than that of Hülkenberg, once again protagonist with Haas. It follows a 10th place on the grid: “I’m happy to be able to start the race in the top 10, in a better position than the Sprint. Qualifying wasn’t the best for me, but we still managed to get to Q3. They are not never been very proud of my ride, I didn’t make any big mistakes but I could have done better. That’s another thing to learn for the future. The team did a fantastic job and I felt comfortable and confident in the car since PL1. Yesterday I wasn’t able to bring out the performance, but I’m happy because I feel I made better use of the car’s potential today. After today’s Sprint and our race performances, I can’t wait for tomorrow!”.
