Daniel Ricciardo admits he was frustrated after losing the use of DRS on his final flying lap in qualifying for the British Grand Prix.
The Australian lines up sixth for the race but was annoyed that he was unable to use DRS on the Wellington straight as he lost further time on the straights, adding to the amount he knew he would lose with the lack of horsepower in his Aston Martin Red Bull Racing.
“Today was challenging and a bit frustrating,” said Ricciardo. “On the best run in Q3 I didn’t have DRS working between turns four and six so we lost a bit of time there but we were missing a lot already.
“Silverstone has proven to be a real horsepower circuit these days, a lot of the corners are full throttle, turns one, two and nine are not really corners anymore, it’s all about horsepower.
“Knowing how much we lose on the straights and then losing DRS was pretty frustrating.”
Ricciardo admits the team were prepared for the qualifying result and hopes by setting up the car for the race, they can get amongst the Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport and Scuderia Ferrari’s.
“We kind of knew yesterday that we were going to struggle to be better than the third row, so we’ve set the car up more for the race, so let’s hope that pays dividends tomorrow,” said the Australian. “I’m hoping it gets hotter and hotter so the tyres become a factor, if it’s a one stop race then it obviously limits our chances but if it’s on the cusp then it could be interesting.
“Let’s hope the fans need factor 75 tomorrow, if that even exists (laughs). We’re still a long way off Ferrari and Mercedes but in the race things can change so hopefully tomorrow provides something a bit different.
“In Austria we didn’t really seem that fast but in the race we turned it around which gives us some optimism.”
