Ricciardo hopes pointless Spanish GP was 'anomaly'

40

Daniel Ricciardo hopes Renault's fruitless Spanish Grand Prix was an "anomaly" for the French outfit after neither of its drivers finished in the top ten in Barcelona.

The pointless weekend was a first for the French which has so far succeeded in putting at least one of its cars in the points this season.

Ricciardo qualified a lowly 13th in Spain, a clear underperformance relative to his P5 position on the grid at Silverstone a week earlier.

The Aussie ran as high as fourth at one point thanks to a one-stop strategy, but Ricciardo's tyre rotation at half distance pushed him back out of the top ten where he concluded his race, just two spots ahead of teammate Esteban Ocon.

"I certainly hope this weekend was a bit of an anomaly, a bit of an Achilles heel for us," said Ricciardo.

"I think everyone is so familiar with this track, and to find something extra, it is challenging. But we’ve had good pace all year, and that didn’t really correlate to that around here, so hopefully it’s a one-off.

"We’ll obviously try and learn from it and hopefully Spa, Monza, these are tracks we’re normally pretty strong on, and we should have a better run, and put this one behind is.

"I’m still convinced the car is improved and better, and I’m still convinced we can be a points car every other weekend. In qualifying if we had that extra half a tenth, we'd start in the points, and we would probably have finished there.

"We’ve just got to be perfect, and that goes onto us drivers as well, we can’t put a foot wrong, because this midfield battle is so tight."

F1i's Driver Ratings for the 2020 Spanish GP

Ricciardo sees Spa's upcoming fast sweeps and numerous overtaking opportunities as a better hunting ground for Renault.

"We’ll try and get it up there in quali in Spa and race a bit further up the front," he said.

"I think Spa can be better: you can overtake, you can have a bit more fun than around here… it’s a little bit nicer!"

Gallery: The beautiful wives and girlfriends of F1 drivers

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

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.