Daniel Ricciardo believes a narrow operating window is partially to blame for the difference in qualifying and race pace between his Renault team and closest opponent McLaren.
McLaren has held an advantage over Renault this season and looks poised to secure fourth spot in the Constructors’ Championship, with the teams split by 32 points ahead of the final two events.
Carlos Sainz Jr. was six-tenths clear of Ricciardo during qualifying for Formula 1’s United States Grand Prix, but in race trim Ricciardo moved ahead of the McLarens.
The sole-stopping Ricciardo edged two-stopping Lando Norris by three-tenths of a second to secure sixth spot, with Sainz Jr. – compromised after first-lap contact – taking eighth.
“Splitting it between qualifying and the race, I do feel like if I look at McLaren, they seem to be able to get the lap time out of the car a bit easier,” explained Ricciardo.
“That window we talk of seems slightly wider for them.
“That is why in qualifying we are not always able to extract the most out of it because it is easier for us to make a mistake or [not] to get the set-up spot on.
“But then in the race, once the pace comes off and you are not on the limit of the tyre, really the whole race, that is where we are able to … our window expands naturally for the pace.
“That is why we are able to come back a little bit towards them.”
Discussion about this post