Daniel Ricciardo goes out in front of his home crowd

Daniel Ricciardo: 10th (no time in Q3)

The first race of the year is traditionally very busy for all the drivers. But it’s even more so for the local hero, Daniel Ricciardo. The Australian was eager to shine in front of his home crowd. However, the 2017 cars are harder to handle than last year’s, and the Red Bull driver paid a steep price. As he was pushing during his first lap in Q3, the rear of the car got away from him, and he ended up crashing into the barriers at turn 14.

If he can only regret such an outcome, he nevertheless does not regret having pushed his car to 100% of its capabilities: « It was a tough day. I don’t crash into barriers often, and the last place I want it to happen is at home. But I feel like I crashed for the right reason because I was pushing and looking for the limits. These kinds of things happen. I’m not disappointed with the approach; it’s just a frustrating outcome, starting 10th instead of being in the top 5. »

Daniel Ricciardo’s car after he crashed during Q3 in Melbourne #F1 #AusGP pic.twitter.com/QXnUUsvUbp

— SUTTON IMAGES (@suttonimages) March 25, 2017

He knows that he will be heavily relying on his mechanics for a good part of the evening since his car will have to be completely rebuilt by tomorrow. However, he will start with determination since he is eager to impress his fans and, incidentally, not let his teammate gain an early advantage in the championship: « I know the fans would have preferred to see me higher up on the grid, and it would have been nice to do better, but the points are distributed tomorrow. It’s an opportunity for bigger headlines if I have a good race. That’s what’s going to motivate me even more tomorrow. I’ve made the task a bit more complicated for myself, but it’s going to be okay. »

Max Verstappen: 5th (1:23.485 in Q3)

Freed from his teammate, Max Verstappen could then focus calmly on his own performance in Q3. Indeed, Red Bull seems to be lagging behind the two leading teams, Mercedes and Ferrari, but also has a comfortable cushion over the competition behind.

The drivers find themselves in their own category, and the Dutchman had no trouble ranking 5th, four-tenths behind Kimi Räikkönen and more than half a second ahead of Romain Grosjean. For the young driver, this is mainly due to the architecture of his RB13: « Before the qualifying, we found some improvements and I was able to build lap after lap. The balance improved and I managed to have a good qualifying session. The balance is now better but it’s clear that we still need to improve. It’s not just a matter of power. We’ve built an efficient car in a straight line but that makes us lose a bit of grip in corners. »

Max Verstappen’s strategy thus seems to be to let the four drivers ahead of him fight, hoping to capitalize in case of a collision in front: « Tomorrow it’s important to get a good quick start and let the guys in front fight. This could give us opportunities. »