Daniel Ricciardo says Red Bull tried its best to come up with a strategy to challenge Ferrari and Mercedes at Spa-Francorchamps this weekend.
However the attempt to run a super-skinny rear wing on Friday didn't pay off, and the team was forced into a rethink overnight before qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix.
"We tried something [with rear wing set-up] yesterday. We came back on it today. I feel like we ended up with a better set-up for sure.
"We couldn't improve on them today," he admitted. "They were quick. They've been quick all weekend.
“We were a bit off in Q1 but I knew there was more time," Ricciardo explained. "Then in Q2 we got closer to the pace that we needed.
"Unfortunately in Q3, when you really start to get everything out of it, we couldn’t get much more.
"As the pace seemed to improve in qualifying, we started to push more. And when we push more, we find ourselves in more problems.
"If I pushed more in one part of the track it killed me in another part. I didn’t really feel we had the car to complete one lap at 100 per cent. I just felt a little bit limited with the balance.
"It felt like the better way was to be a little bit more conservative. But in the end that still wasn't quick enough."
Ricciardo will now start from sixth place on the grid on Sunday, but hopes that the team's decision to play safe may yet bear fruit in the race.
"It might mean we've got a better chance tomorrow with the race the way the tyres are dropping off," he mused. "If we’re not getting the peak out of the tyre maybe we can sustain a relatively good pace for longer than the others
"Maybe that means we have got a more consistent car for the race," he suggested. "That’s what I’m betting on.
"Over the course of a stint there's blistering, and a lot of things going on with the tyres. It's always like that every year. I think for those scenarios we might be looking okay.
"We'll see," he said. "We're close enough, so we'll try and make it through the first lap and have some fun!"
His boss, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner, certainly isn't about to give up on tomorrow's race.
"We're actually closer than we thought we would be, so that's encouraging," he said. "We knew we don't have the engine modes to go with them in Q3.
"Max in particular had a very strong last run. And in locking out the third row of the grid hopefully we can capitalise on any opportunities.
"Hopefully we can run more competitively in the race tomorrow. And of course if there's a bit more rain around as well that can always spruce things up. It's going to be an interesting first corner and first lap!"
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