Daniel Ricciardo admitted the final laps of the F1 Sprint at Spa-Francorchamps on Saturday were “pretty sketchy” as he battled for grip from his intermediate tyres.
The Scuderia AlphaTauri driver started 11th but rose as high as eighth during the rain-shortened 11-lap competitive encounter.
However, he lost two places in the final lap as he struggled for grip, falling out of the points to 10th.
“I saw Perez go off in 14, Turn 14, I think, so alright, that’s eighth, I was like, that’s a point,” he said.
“And at that moment, I could still see the Ferrari in sight; I guess it was [Charles] Leclerc and Lando [Norris] – I think we know they’ve got a high downforce car here, so he was always pulling away in the second sector, but I was kind of hanging on in the straights and kind of keeping him in sight.
“So there’s a couple of laps where I was like ‘Oh, the pace is actually pretty good’, and then yeah…
Secure your spot today.
“Probably like, three [laps] from the end, it just started getting a lot slower, just obviously with the tyres.
“I had a look at the tyres on the other cars and everyone’s tyres look pretty beat up, but we have to understand why [it] felt like we dropped off a lot more.”
Ricciardo was among those to stop on the opening lap to swap from full wet tyres onto intermediates.
It was a strategy call that netted a two-place gain over those who delayed the move by a lap and meant he cleared George Russell and Esteban Ocon.
“Obviously, Russell overtook me and then, at the end… not even just slow, it was getting pretty sketchy,” Ricciardo said of the final laps.
“Would have been nice to stay in the points but kind of glad to see the chequered flag because I’m not sure how much more those tyres were going to keep me on the track.”
Tenth for Ricciardo contrasted with 18th for team-mate Yuki Tsunoda, the Japanese driver spinning following the Safety Car restart to run last.
Before that, he sat 16th, though lost out by boxing on the second lap, which saw him rejoin 17th.
The Japanese driver then circulated at the back of the pack, moving up to 18th following Sergio Perez’s retirement with three laps remaining.
Ricciardo will line up for Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix from 19th after his best time in Qualifying 3 on Friday was deleted for track limits.
Discussion about this post