Frustrated Ricciardo reckons Renault 'better than tenth'

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Daniel Ricciardo will line up on the fifth row of this afternoon's Austrian Grand Prix starting grid, but the Aussie reckons his Renault was worthy of a better result in qualifying.

Ricciardo's final flying lap in Q3 was undermined by the off-track excursion of poleman Valtteri Bottas, whose Mercedes veered off into the gravel and brought out the yellow flags, forcing all cars to slow.

"I should be [smiling], but I’m not, because we got a bit unlucky in that last run," he said after the conclusion of Saturday afternoon's session.

"Bottas went off in front of me and there was a yellow so I had to lift.

"I didn’t actually think he went off, I thought he’d just dropped a wheel so I was pretty angry because I thought they just put a yellow out for no reason.

"I believe he actually did go off so, fair enough, I was wrong. But yeah, what can you do in those situations?"

Ricciardo made clear that P10 was not a reflection of the true performance level of Renault's R.S.20.

"It was nice to get in Q3. I think we’ve had a decent car all weekend, but I think we’re better than tenth, so I’m a bit frustrated," he said.

"It was pretty good yesterday. I think all weekend it has been pretty strong, and I think we’ve been well inside the top 10 all weekend so that’s why I certainly feel we could be better today.

"I’ll have to make it happen tomorrow and prove what we’re able to do."

Ocon would be 'very happy' to have Alonso as Renault teammate

Ricciardo's teammate Esteban Ocon will launch his race for P14 on the grid, the Frenchman struggling to piece together an optimum lap in his first qualifying session in F1 since Abu Dhabi 2018!

"I’m not very satisfied with today as it’s not what we wanted to achieve," Ocon said.

"I know we could have done better with what we had in hand. There were just a few little details that we didn’t get right.

"I want to review what happened as the gap to where I want to be is pretty big. We’ll take a look and keep working hard."

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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.