Daniel Ricciardo believes Q3 was possible for Renault after just missing out in P12 in qualifying.
Despite what was dubbed their ‘best ever winter’, the French manufacturer appears still to be mired in the Formula 1 midfield as four of their rivals all got cars into the top 10.
The gaps were ridiculously tight, however, with only 0.038s covering Sergio Perez, Nico Hulkenberg and Ricciardo, something that left the Aussie favourite frustrated.
“I don’t think 12th is a representation of where we are, I feel we are better,” he said afterwards. “I’m clearly disappointed not to make Q3.
“I knew it was going to be close, I thought we had the pace for Q3. I’m not sure how deep we would have gone, but we only had half a tenth to get there and that was in the car and in myself.
“I lost a bit of time in the first sector on the last run and when you don’t do the perfect lap, it’s frustrating.”
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Interestingly, Ricciardo did concede that Renault certainly wouldn’t have challenged Haas for the fourth best team if they had made the top 10.
“I don’t think the car was much better than another tenth, but it would have been nice to get into Q3,” he added.
The only positive is the ‘Honey Badger’ does think race pace will tell a different story.
“The changes we made today gave me more confidence for tomorrow,” Ricciardo claimed.
“Normally if I don’t do so well in qualifying, I seem to carry a chip on my shoulder for the race which helps me out. So I will use it as fuel for tomorrow!
“I’m very optimistic for the race. It’s just a matter of if we can pass and attack. I always want to do well at home, but we have to keep a cool head, have a good start and then attack when necessary.”
