DRS issue hampers Ricciardo’s British GP qualifying

Daniel Ricciardo’s British Grand Prix qualifying effort was hampered after the Red Bull driver was unable to use DRS on his first flying lap of Q3. 

The Australian ended up 1.2s adrift of pole sitter Lewis Hamilton in sixth as he and Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen struggled to match the competitiveness of rivals Mercedes and Ferrari in qualifying at Silverstone. 

Ricciardo was unable to deploy the DRS flap on the rear wing of his RB14 during his first qualifying run and while he was able to activate it manually on his final flying effort, he was left frustrated after feeling his initial lap had been stronger. 

“I don’t know why, but we lost DRS between Turns 4 and 6 in Q3,” Ricciardo explained. “So just conveniently when you want to do your best time of the whole weekend. We lost some time there. 

“It was frustrating because there was no real reason why. We haven’t been quick enough to challenge Ferrari and Mercedes from the start. What used to be a downforce circuit is now just a horsepower circuit.”

When asked how much he think the issue had cost him, Ricciardo replied: “I guess it is two to three tenths. I don’t think it would have changed my position but it is just more frustrating.”

Verstappen was once again left to rue Red Bull’s well-documented straight-line speed deficit compared to F1’s fellow leading teams, while the Dutchman is bracing himself for a tough race from fifth on the grid. 

“I think you miss the engine horsepower and you know you’re going to struggle,” Verstappen said. “Also now with the cars we have, few corners became flat out so it just gets more and more difficult. 

“If you lose more than a second on the straight then you know it’s going to be a difficult weekend but actually I was quite happy with how the car was performing in qualifying so actually I don’t have anything to complain.

“It will be tough but we’ll try. I think anyway in the race we should be a bit stronger. We have a good car, hopefully the weather will help us a bit with tyres, but I don’t expect miracles.”

Ricciardo added: “We feel like we make a step forward but then they make one and a half steps. We are there but we are never really there. 

“I’m used to it and I’m not expecting that we’re ever really going to be on their pace in terms of power. It is the reality of these regulations for now. It would be nice to be a bit closer.”