Daniel Ricciardo hopes there is a simple solution after struggling for pace on new tyres during the Belgian Grand Prix.

The Australian started last on the grid after Nico Hulkenberg was forced into the pit lane, and finished the race 16th in his Scuderia AlphaTauri.

He crossed the line just 1.3 seconds behind Kevin Magnussen’s Haas and 1.4s ahead of Williams’ Logan Sargeant.

“Honestly, I felt quite limited today in terms of pace,” Ricciardo explained.

“Even in clear air, I was struggling a lot, honestly, just getting the front – all through the middle sector or the high-speed, I was just washing, washing.

“It was probably not that we were turning the tyres on, felt like probably not producing enough grip and then I was sliding and overheating really quickly.

“In clear air, we didn’t break away from the pack – we couldn’t – and then it felt like they were able to get more out of their tyres early.

“I was normally getting overtaken whilst we all had fresh tyres, and then when it settled, I’d have better pace but was stuck behind them – and obviously that’s not good for the tyres as well.”

Yuki Tsunoda finished 10th to score the team’s third point of the season in the other Scuderia AlphaTauri, suggesting the underlying car had more to offer.

Keen for an answer, Ricciardo also isn’t overly concerned as he continues learning the Scuderia AlphaTauri’s nuances.

“I’m keen to get back and into the truck and kind of see what we can learn from it,” Ricciardo said of the race.

“I don’t want to be too discouraged, of course.

“It was our only dry session all weekend, so it could be something simple with set-up we went the wrong way.

“I just wish I could have been able to attack a little more.

“In saying that, I’m glad again I got the race distance done; a lot to learn, lots of feedback to the team.

“I saw Yuki got 10th, so looks like he had a decent race, so try to learn a bit from that as well.”

With the Sprint format in use in Belgium, the fortunes of Sunday’s race were set in train on Friday afternoon when cars entered parc ferme.

That followed an abridged practice session in the wet, further complicating set-up choices for a driver in only his second race in the car.

“I felt like we didn’t probably get the most out of the car today,” he reasoned.

“Where that is, is that front wing? It’s pretty much all we can do today. But yeah, it may be something as simple as that, potentially.

“We were always around cars that were really quick on a straight as well, so I was watching gearboxes today.

“People have gearboxes as mantelpieces in their houses. It’s not really my thing, I don’t need to see anymore!”