Ricciardo baffled by lack of pace

Ricciardo baffled by lack of pace

Martin Macdonald

Sunday 26 August 2018 12:27

Daniel Ricciardo has admitted that he does not know why Red Bull have been suffering from a lack of pace over the Belgian Grand Prix weekend so far, as he and his Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen could only make P7 and P8 on the grid.

Pace wasn't the only issue that Red Bull had to contend with over the three qualifiers, as the conditions worsened as time went on with rain pouring down on the slick surface. Furthermore, both drivers didn't have enough fuel to record an extra lap towards the end of qualifying as the circuit started to dry.

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For Ricciardo, he simply doesn't understand the team's speed disadvantage.

"We've been slow all weekend and, at times, nearly a second off, and not really sure why," said the Australian, who announced during the summer break he will be leaving Red Bull for Renault for the 2019 F1 season.

"That was weird and the laps I did were fine, I wasn't going off track or driving like an idiot. We just couldn't understand why. Even crossing the line, I'd see the laptime and I'm expecting to see something significantly better and I'm not, so I was a bit confused.

"We put the second set on and we went quicker but still we were even on [the] second set, we were maybe still four-tenths off Max, and the track got better. So something's been a bit off, but we haven't really figured out why yet."