Daniel Ricciardo thinks starting Sunday’s Austrian Grand Prix on the supersoft tyre will make up for switching back to slicks too late in the final part of a wet-to-dry qualifying.
The Australian was amongst the fastest in the early stages of Q3 on the intermediate tyre but eventually fell down to seventh as other drivers found more pace on their dry-weather compound, having spent an extra lap on it.
“I came on the radio and said at the end of the session it will be dry and the slick will be the better tyre,” Ricciardo said. “In the end, we were thinking the last lap will be the one but the problem was that we did not give us one lap to adapt to the slick tyre.
“All the guys ahead of us, from what I understand, they had at least two laps [on slicks]. Through those conditions, it’s sort of trial-and-error. I got into turn one, I thought I’d braked late and the grip was a lot higher then I thought ‘oh I could’ve braked later’.
“If you get another lap, it’s easy lap time. I think we did not give us enough time on the slick to get the most out it. That was probably the situation. I think the car was pretty good. We had the potential to be up there but it was just a bit of wrong timing.”
With Nico Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel both carrying five-place penalties for gearbox changes, Ricciardo will line up fifth, with the 27-year-old hopeful of making further headway thanks to his supersoft tyres.
“The positive is that we’re still in a pretty good position… and on the supersoft. If we did not do that well in Q3 with maybe some decisions, I think Q2 was the right decision to be the supersoft. I think tomorrow it will help us.”
F1 drivers must start the race on the compound they used to set their fastest mark in Q2. Pole sitter Lewis Hamilton, who topped the middle part of qualifying on the ultrasoft, already said he was braced for a “tricky” first stint, as the supersoft compound is expected to perform better during the race.
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