Daniel Ricciardo was left to rue a mistake at turn fourteen during his first qualifying run in the top ten shootout that ended up with the Red Bull Racing driver in the barriers.
The Australian was disappointed to let his fans down as he failed to set a time during the session, meaning he will start tenth on the grid for the Australian Grand Prix rather than inside the top five where he has been all weekend long up until his spin.
“That was a tough one today,” said Ricciardo. “I don’t crash into the barriers often and the last place I want to do that is at home.
“But I feel I crashed for the right reason, as I was basically pushing and trying to find the limit and these things happen, so let’s say I’m not disappointed by the approach, it was just more of a frustrating outcome, starting tenth instead of being under the top five.
“I feel for the mechanics, because they’ve had a long week and now they’ve got a long night ahead of them.”
Ricciardo knows that although he will be starting out of position, the points are awarded on Sunday, and he believes that he can fight back to where he belongs and still has ambitions of a top five or even a top three finish in front of his adoring home crowd.
“I knew the crowds would have also preferred to see me further up the grid and it would have been nice to put on a better performance than that but tomorrow is where the points are,” said Ricciardo.
“It’s a chance to create a bigger headline if I have a good race so that’s what will motivate me to do better tomorrow. I made it a bit more difficult for myself but it’s going to be alright.
“To get a good start in the race will be the key. I saved a set of Ultrasofts in Q2, I know that not everyone in front of me has, so maybe that gives me a chance.”
