The US Grand Prix saw many battles and challenges, one of them was Daniel Ricciardo.
For Ricciardo, the Austin Grand Prix presented both physical and technical challenges. He confessed he felt “pretty good” despite the demanding nature of the track and his return from injury. However, he revealed that the Sprint race had its share of difficulties.
“I got out of the car probably sweating more,” he noted, suggesting that the previous day’s 19-lap sprint may have served as a warm-up for the race.
Physical challenges weren’t the only ones Ricciardo faced. Unfortunately for the 34-year-old Australian, he was on a one-stop strategy. As Charles Leclerc found out to his cost, it was not the strategy to be on.
However, he explained post-race that he gained damage to the front of the car which led to a significant drop in performance and made the strategy call irrelevant.
“I guess it was debris because they mentioned Stroll. I think we got close but I don’t think we touched, so I think we must have picked up some debris somewhere.
“That made our race a pretty miserable one. We’re, at best, a top 10 car and when you put damage into it we are certainly out of the points.”
When asked about the fastest lap, Ricciardo mentioned that he held it for a while during the race, but his team mate Yuki Tsunoda eventually claimed it. He explained that with the damage, there wasn’t much he could do to salvage the race.
“Do we just box and call it a day, or try to fix it and learn something?”
The team opted to pit and attempt a fix, switching to softer tyres, which only slightly improved the performance for the Aussie.
“I don’t know if it was front wing or brake duct. They put the soft on — it was a bit better but I don’t think it was still that impressive. I imagine we still have some damage for that.”
The Australian crossed the line in P17, last of the classified runners. He gained two spots following the post-race disqualifications for Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton.
