'Didn't improve': Daniel Ricciardo perplexed by F1 let-down

Daniel Ricciardo has admitted he is perplexed by Renault’s qualifying struggles at the Sakhir Grand Prix after only managing to start seventh on the grid.

Relatively good pace for both Ricciardo and teammate Esteban Ocon in the previous three practice sessions had led to the French factory team feeling optimistic about their chances heading into F1’s penultimate race of the season.

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However Ricciardo was left frustrated after being unable to improve on his Q2 time, in which he made a costly error on the final corner, while Ocon didn’t even qualify in the top 10.

Key midfield rivals Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez both qualified ahead of Ricciardo as the midfield battle between Ferrari, Renault, Racing Point and McLaren comes down to the wire.

Asked by Sky Sports if he was disappointed with his qualifying result, Ricciardo had to admit he was.

“Q2 was really close and actually my last sector was really quite poor so I think with a decent last corner we were looking all right.

“Just didn’t get it together with both sets (of tyres) in Q3. Don’t really know why to be honest.

“Gotta understand where it went wrong because I didn’t improve from Q2, with a mistake as well, so we’ll try and figure that one out.”

Ricciardo is fourth in the drivers’ standings ahead of the race, two points clear of Perez and four ahead of Leclerc.

Lewis Hamilton replacement almost captures pole

British driver George Russell has narrowly missed out on a dream pole position after being edged for top spot by his Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas for Sunday's Sakhir Grand Prix.

Russell, 22, deputising for Lewis Hamilton following the seven-time world champion's positive COVID-19 test, finished only 0.026 seconds slower than Bottas in qualifying.

Russell improved with his final run under the lights of the Sakhir Circuit, but he could not do enough to usurp the Finn.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen will line up in third, just 0.056 sec behind Bottas. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc finished fourth, while Australia's Daniel Ricciardo will start from seventh in the grid in his Renault.

Hamilton has dominated this season, winning 11 of the 15 rounds, but his enforced absence here - the first Formula One qualifying session staged without the record-breaking Briton since the season-ending 2006 Brazilian Grand Prix - made for an unpredictable affair.

Russell, a Williams driver by day, was handed a fairytale call-up after Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff asked him to fill Hamilton's championship-winning cockpit.

And the young Briton from King's Lynn in Norfolk impressed, topping both practice sessions here on Friday, before only just missing out on pole.

"It has been incredibly tense with so much to learn and getting used to the car," said Russell. "It felt really alien to begin with and it is a different way to drive. I needed to relearn how to drive this car fast.

"I was happy to get through to Q3 after final practice, and if you told me last week I would qualify second, I wouldn't have believed you.

With AAP

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