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Daniel Ricciardo has admitted that he struggled more than was expected in the opening two practice sessions for this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix.
Ricciardo ended the day 13th fastest in his RB, just under a second away from the time laid down by George Russell.
He was also three-tenths down on team-mate Yuki Tsunoda, who was seventh quickest at the end of Free Practice 2.
It was a difficult day in Zandvoort. The circuit was wet at the start of opening practice before drying, and heavy gusts battered it.
“It was a little bit everything,” Ricciardo said of the day.
“I used all three compounds today [wets, intermediates, slicks] today, so there’s a bit going on.
“There’s a bit to find. We were just diving head first into the data a little bit and try and understand…
“We struggled a little bit more than anticipated, especially on the medium versus the hard.
“We kind of split tyres with Yuki and myself. He was quicker on the hard than I was on the medium.
“And then on the soft managed to get in a bit of a better lap but still not quite there.
“Hopefully we’ll find a few things tonight and then set up ourselves for tomorrow.”
That process is two-fold; the first a sanity check of Ricciardo’s car against Tsunoda’s, following by a further dive into more detailed car set-up.
“Just trying to make sure the cross car comparison, everything’s lined up,” the Australian explained.
“So yeah, just giving a few things some attention at the moment.
“We’ll focus on set-up and try some adjustments.”
With Zandvoort the second shortest circuit on the calendar, the lap time is short, leading to small gaps between drivers.
That saw the top 14 split by less than a second in Free Practice 2, highlighting how small improvements can net large gains.
“And I think tomorrow will probably bunch up even more,” Ricciardo observed.
“Every little bit is going to count, and that’s what we’ll try and unlock tonight ahead of tomorrow.”
