Daniel Ricciardo OUT of Hungarian GP qualifying but gains HUGE positive

Ricciardo keert terug bij AlphaTauri op Hungaroring — Photo: © LAT Images

Daniel Ricciardo

Ricciardo OUT of Hungarian GP qualifying but gains HUGE positive

He made it through Q1 but couldn't reach the top 10 at the Hungaroring

Joe Ellis

Saturday 22 July 2023 16:49 Updated: 19:01

Daniel Ricciardo was knocked out of his comeback F1 qualifying session in Q2 at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

The 34-year-old ended 13th fastest at the Hungaroring but did beat his team-mate Yuki Tsunoda, who was a victim of Q1.

As well as the Australian, Carlos Sainz was a shock exit from the second session as he could only manage 11th fastest, nearly four-tenths off Lando Norris' fastest time.

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Sainz was bumped down into the bottom five by his team-mate Charles Leclerc who needed a late lap to make Q3.

Jumbled up

Daniel Ricciardo will be content with his first qualifying of the year, despite not reaching Q3

There might be the usual suspects near the front in the form of Red Bull, Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc but this new qualifying system has shaken things up.

George Russell was knocked out in Q1 on the hard tyres and not all teams have fully grasped this format in time for action.

It's not an ideal time for Ricciardo to make his return but in a way, it's handy that the other teams have this big question mark to arguably slow them down slightly.

His next race after this is a sprint weekend too which makes his F1 return even more jumbled than it normally would have been.