Ricciardo 'confused and helpless' after botched qualifying

Daniel Ricciardo was at a loss to explain his painful underperformance in qualifying for tomorrow's Mexican Grand Prix.

Contrary to team mate Max Verstappen, the Red Bull driver never looked like a contender for pole Saturday afternoon, clocking in P7 and almost one full second off the pace!

"I topped practice yesterday, and having the same settings this morning, we were pretty much on P1 pace," said Ricciardo.

"We haven’t touched the car from yesterday to today, up to qualifying, and from the start of the session it was just… nowhere.

"We tried doing two warm-up laps, one warm-up lap. But it seemed like whatever grip I had when I left the box, I had for the session.

"We played around a bit with front wing, but the car was numb to anything in qualifying. In the end we couldn’t do anything, I was pretty helpless.

Verstappen 'super annoyed' after Mexico qualifying

"We need to understand why. We’re seventh when we’ve been fighting towards the front all weekend.

"If we get back to the car we had, I think we can still race up to the podium tomorrow. But qualifying was… what’s a word without swearing? We were very confused, annoyed, helpless."

Ricciardo's beef centered around his car's grip - or lack of - which may have been linked to his specific set of tyres or something else, said the Aussie.

"It seems like something fundamental and I don’t know now what that is. The feeling was like you don’t have tyre blankets, going out and sliding everywhere, can’t generate the grip you require.

"Sometimes you get one set of tyres you can't turn on, so you might lose a bit of time, but every run was the same story, so super, super frustrated, confused.

"I'm sure we'll find something, but it doesn't make the session any easier to go through. We couldn't really do anything.

"This morning the track was really cold, and we were still able to hit it on the first lap. So this afternoon [as it was warmer] it should have been a breeze to warm the tyres up and to get them going.

"That's where it's more confusing right now; that doesn't really explain the problems we had – if anything that should have helped the warm-up.

"The adrenaline is slowly coming down now. I wasn't... for sure angry, but just helpless, helpless in that qualifying."

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Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.