Daniel Ricciardo says he is hopeful of achieving his second top-10 finish of the season, after qualifying ninth for Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix.
Key points:
- Daniel Ricciardo was consistently in the top 10 during qualifying
- He becomes Australia’s most experienced F1 driver on Sunday in his 216th race.
- Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc starts the Spanish Grand Prix from pole
The Australian overtook his McLaren teammate Lando Norris for the first time in 2022 after Norris had a lap time erased for going off track and was eliminated in Q2.
Ricciardo said the weekend had been a learning curve for the team, which bought new car upgrades for Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
He said practice sessions had been “tricky” as the team tried to perfect their car’s set-up.
But once qualifying began, Ricciardo seemed confident of a top-10 start, which the Australian hopes is a sign of better things to come as he prepares to set a new Australian record of 216 F1 starts.
“I think we’re still fighting a little bit in some areas, so I’m just trying to hone it,” he said.
“On paper, ninth is a solid place to start and we’ll keep moving forward.
“So hopefully we’ll keep finding shards and get some solid points.”
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc will start the Spanish Grand Prix on pole after a blistering lap at the bottom of qualifying.
The championship leader spun his car on his first flying lap in Q3, meaning he had a shot at snatching pole from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
Leclerc then swept away with a time of 1min 18.750s, three tenths quicker than Verstappen, who did not complete a second lap after reporting a loss of power.