Daniel Ricciardo is confident he and Renault can regain the five places lost after a strong qualifying performance at the Belgian GP.
The French manufacturer’s strength on low downforce circuits showed once again as the Australian finished ‘best of the rest’ in sixth with teammate Nico Hulkenberg right behind.
“We actually made a few improvements overnight and that really helped and kind of put us clear in that midfield,” Ricciardo explained to Sky Sports.
“Obviously, [Sergio] Perez had the pace on us yesterday, but I think today from the morning and the afternoon, I was kind of the guy to beat in our little midfield pack.
“We certainly improved the car and Nico as well, he’d been struggling a bit more, but it looked like he found some rhythm in the last part of qualifying. Sixth and seventh is all we can ask for.”
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Because of new engine components taken at Spa, however, Ricciardo and Hulkenberg drop back to 11th and 12th on the grid for Sunday’s race.
But having been the second quickest car through the speed trap at the top of Raidillon in qualifying, only 0.8kph slower than Sebastian Vettel, the 30-year-old expects to show off his overtaking skills once again.
“Yes, I am, it’s been solid. I think even the long runs yesterday felt pretty good,” he said on whether he was confident Renault could recover.
“We’ve got some decent cars around us but I think we will be able to get inside the top-10 and do something from there, but how far we can go who knows?”
