Ricciardo made error behind Q1 exit while ‘trying to take Eau Rouge full throttle’

Daniel Ricciardo admitted he made the mistake which led to his elimination in the first round of qualifying while trying to take one of spa’s most notorious corners flat-out in wet conditions.

The AlphaTauri driver, in his second race since returning to Formula 1, qualified on the back row of the grid after his final flying lap in Q1 was deleted because he put all four wheels off the track at the exit of Raidillon.

Ricciardo said he had tried to pass through it and the preceding Eau Rouge corner at full throttle. The track was wet at the time and all drivers were lapping on intermediate tyres.

“Basically I tried to take Eau Rouge full [throttle],” Ricciardo explained afterwards. “I entered full and I felt the car start to move and so I had a little lift and it just put me a bit off-line.

“Then I was kind of on the wetter part of the track and I couldn’t really do much more. I kind of just had to let the car and go. I tried to save it but…”

“It’s frustrating, obviously,” he said. “On one hand, this is quali, you’ve obviously got to try. My intentions were good to try and take it full, I thought it could have been done. But a little error then put us out.”

However Ricciardo said he wasn’t disheartened by the early end to his second qualifying session since returning to F1.

“Obviously the result today is frustrating and disappointing and all of that. But I think we were there, the first run I was a little bit further away.

“I think that lap as well, without the Eau Rouge thing, I probably could have picked up a little bit more time. I think we were there within a couple of tenths or so and excited to go in Q2 and obviously see if I can keep chipping away.

“So I think generally the speed is there and that’s important. There wasn’t too much head-scratching. I think there’s still obviously things we can improve, but it was positive. It’s just obviously a shame to start Sunday now at the back.”

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

2023 Belgian Grand Prix

• Haas drivers fear losing battle for seventh after “grim weekend” in Spa
• Mercedes optimistic they’re “in the right place for winter” with development plan
• Ferrari not convinced by call to equalise engines: ‘Renault is not so far away’
• Ferrari staying “calm” amid swings in performance from race to race
• Pirelli proposes new “super-intermediate” to address wet weather tyre problems

Browse all 2023 Belgian Grand Prix articles