With a great campaign finale in 2023 under its former AlphaTauri name, RB was considered one of the surprise packages for 2024.
Furthermore, Yuki Tsunoda and Ricciardo qualified 11th and 14th, respectively, at the Sakhir event, proving that RB was a Q3 contender despite Ricciardo’s denials about the excitement surrounding his renamed team.
Tsunoda, in particular, had every right to be upset about missing the cut by just 0.007 seconds, while Ricciardo, who finished 1.5 tenths outside of the top 10, acknowledged that he didn’t get the best lap out of the VCARB 01.
“I regret not putting everything together since that’s the purpose of qualifying. I’m kind of mad at myself because you meant to put it together when it mattered,” he remarked.
“Well, I didn’t drive badly or anything, but I also didn’t go over the boundary where I was satisfied with just doing a clean lap.
“I was never really able to put lap time together, but there were always certain places on the course where I knew it. Even if I made a tiny improvement, I would most likely lose a little in the following corner.
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“However, we thought that if we did a fantastic lap, we could make it to Q3, with Yuki in 11th place. Otherwise, though, I believe that’s where we are for the time being as we’re probably in the top 12 region.”
It’s looking like a fierce battle for the lower points places, and Ricciardo is still optimistic that he and Tsunoda can sneak into the top 10.
The 34-year-old responded, “Yeah, I definitely think we can still do it.” There’s a lot to be gained because everything is near.
“You can definitely be contending for the lead if you only have that extra tenth in the race to better control the tires.
“There’s some hope that we could push our way to the front because we weren’t too bad in the long run.
Since this is the first race, anything can happen. A few individuals [up front] may become excited.”
