Ricciardo rues Q1 track limit error but relishes second chance

Daniel Ricciardo admitted that his track limit infringement in Q1 at Spa actually cost him time in addition to a deletion by the stewards, but the AlphaTauri charger is eager to give it another go in Saturday's Sprint Shootout.

Ricciardo's flyer in the first segment of qualifying was good enough for P10 until the lap was deleted for exceeding track limits at the top of Raidillon.

It was a disappointing outcome for the Aussie who believed that his hot lap would have been even quicker had he not ventured beyond the white lines at the corner.

"I think I lost a bit of time from the track limits," he said. "Basically I tried to take Eau Rouge full, like I entered full and I felt the car start to move.

"And so I had a little lift, and it just then put me a bit offline and then I was kind of on the wetter part of the track, and I couldn't really do much more.

"I kind of just had to let the car go. I tried to save it. Yeah, frustrating obviously.

"On one hand this is what quali is. My intentions were good to try and take it full, I thought it could have been done, but obviously a little error then put us out."

• 2023 Belgian Grand Prix - Qualifying Results

This weekend's Sprint format will see everyone indulge in another qualifying exercise on Saturday. For Ricciardo, it will be a second chance to get it right.

"Right now how I feel I'm very happy that I get another chance tomorrow," he said. "That's kind of numbed a little bit of the pain.

"And yeah, I think it's back to the laptops and get into the data. I think we'll probably have similar conditions tomorrow, so see how that puts us."

Overall, F1's returnee was rather pleased with his car's performance and rather looking forward to continue "chipping away".

"Obviously the result today is frustrating, disappointing and all of that," he added.

"But I think Q1 I was there, the first run I was a little bit further away, and then I think that lap without the Eau Rouge thing, I probably could have picked up a little bit more time.

"I think we're there within a couple of tenths also and excited to go in Q2 and obviously see if I can keep chipping away.

"So I think generally the speed is there, and that's important, there wasn't too much head scratching, I think there's still obviously things we can improve, but it was positive it's just obviously a shame to start Sunday now at the back."

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