In the round-up: Daniel Ricciardo says he’s feeling more confident this weekend after RB gave him a new chassis.
In brief
Chassis change giving Ricciardo “more confidence”
Daniel Ricciardo says he is feeling much more confident in his RB this weekend in Shanghai after the team provided him a new chassis.
Ricciardo has failed to score a point over the opening four rounds of the championship, while team mate Yuki Tsunoda has scored seven over the last two races. But after finishing 11th in the sprint race and qualifying 12th for today’s grand prix, Ricciardo says he’s feeling better in the car.
“So far, it’s been a more positive weekend for us and my best one of the year,” Ricciardo said. “We changed the chassis this weekend and I feel the car better and have more confidence in it, so that’s encouraging, but it’s just one track.
“I’m excited to go racing again tomorrow. The sprint this morning has been encouraging, so I hope we can show a bit more in the long run. I think P12 is a decent place to start and offers the opportunity to try catching the ones in front and get some points.”
Red flag cost me set of softs – Russell
George Russell believes he had an opportunity to qualify higher than eighth for the Chinese Grand Prix had he not been compromised by Carlos Sainz Jnr’s Q2 crash.
Russell was the only driver on a push lap when Sainz spun at the final corner in Q2, losing the chance to set his first timed lap in the session. Russell says having to run an extra set of new softs in Q2 compromised his final session.
“My first lap in Q2 was looking very strong but the red flag forced us to abort,” Russell said. “We had to use another set of new tyres to progress to Q3.
“Without that, we would have had two new sets for the final part of qualifying and it could have been a different outcome but who knows. We are in that fight between P3 and P8 and, unfortunately, we’ve found ourselves at the back end of that battle in the last few races in qualifying.”
Hulkenberg reprimanded
The Chinese Grand Prix stewards reprimanded Nico Hulkenberg for passing two rivals in the fast lane of the pit lane at the start of Q1.
Although the stewards noted that the Haas driver asked his team if he could do so over the radio and was told he could, this was against the regulations.
Hulkenberg will keep his ninth place on the grid for today’s Chinese Grand Prix.
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