Daniel Ricciardo believes pushing “too far” with setup led to his “strange” crash during Practice 2 at the Monaco Grand Prix.
The McLaren driver was the first Formula 1 driver to have major contact with the barriers in Monte Carlo after losing the car through the high-speed first part of the Swimming Pool section.
And on a day when teams had to experiment with ride heights and suspension settings to cope with the bumps on the street circuit, Ricciardo suggested the rear was a little too aggressive.
“It obviously happens quickly but it kind of slowed down as well,” he said explaining the accident.
Danny Ric’s FP2 ended early ??#MonacoGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/bX3ajDHS6f
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 27, 2022
“I knew everything that was happening and I tried to save it but already, kind of into Turn 13 I was losing it. I could feel the car was starting to get away from me and yeah, a little strange.
“Normally you pick up some stuff at Turn 14 on the kerb if you kind of get a bit too greedy and the car can get unloaded.
“We pushed a few things with set-up, we are trying but pushed a little too far probably in a couple of areas,” he added.
“I tried my best to save it but we couldn’t. I know they’ll fix it. Obviously, we missed all the session but I am okay. We will be all ready to go.”
When F1 broadcast McLaren’s radio message to Ricciardo after the crash, there was some surprise when race engineer Tom Stallard first enquired about the car rather than Daniel himself.
However, a full transcript later revealed the team was unaware of the crash before cameras panned to him in the Techpro barrier.
Despite what was broadcast, the full radio transcript reveals #McLaren was unaware of #DanielRicciardo‘s crash when initially contacting him over his stoppage in Practice 2#F1 #Formula1 #MonacoGP pic.twitter.com/5YrcVErcC9
— InsideRacing.com (@INSIDERACINGcom) May 27, 2022
Across the garage, Lando Norris had a positive day finishing fifth in both sessions despite still suffering from tonsillitis that impacted him in Spain.
“I am almost there,” he said of his recovery. “I am not 100% still but I can’t describe how much better I am than this time last week. Like 99% gone… 90% gone let’s say just struggling with my throat and coughs. Stuff like that.
“I am in a much better position and I can enjoy and concentrate when I am driving and so on. It’s been a decent first day in Monaco, so I am happy.
“A little bit surprised to be ahead of Mercedes,” he admitted. “I expected them to maybe be ahead of us, but the plan is to be ahead of them if we can be then I will be very happy with that.”
