RB
RB were in the headlines all day long, firstly for the news about Tsunoda’s new contract, and secondly due to their on-track performance. Ricciardo had looked the pick of the two team mates in practice, but in qualifying Tsunoda was shining the brighter. That is until the very last runs, when an under-pressure Ricciardo nailed his lap to grab a season’s best Grand Prix start of fifth. That sets him up for a tilt at a first points finish of the year in a Grand Prix.
Daniel Ricciardo, 5th, 1:12.178
“I’m very pleased about today. It’s been a really good weekend, a lot of fun, and one of those ones where everything’s just feeling good. We are less than two-tenths from pole, and even if it’s not today’s case, sometimes this means being on the front row, so it’s nice being competitive and feeling comfortable in the car. In Q3 it was very important to have a fast warm-up lap and this is what I told the team. I did it and then had the right confidence for the push lap. It was nice to put the lap together, but I’m not surprised, I know when I feel like this, I can do these things. I’m happy that I was able to get it out of myself, but happy and credit to the team, both cars going into Q3 and happy to reward them with a very nice result. I always feel something special coming here to Montréal and I’ve got good memories: exactly ten years ago I got my first win here and my life changed. Also, the team feels there’s some good energy this weekend, so happy to convert that into some good driving. Tomorrow, we start in a good spot inside the top 5, with some good front-running guys around me, so I’ll get the best out of myself during the race.”
Yuki Tsunoda, 8th, 1:12.414
“As you can see in the result, the team did a fantastic job, and it was a successful day for us. For myself, considering I was struggling in Free Practice, it was a very good turnaround for qualifying. I had an unfortunate gust of wind in Turn 2 and lost a lot of lap time there, but still, another Q3 is not bad. So far, it’s been an enjoyable race weekend, with many ups and downs which have challenged me, but at the same time, if we can turn it around to this it’s always a good feeling, and that’s credit to the team. We’ll see how it goes with the weather tomorrow, but we have a good car and obviously want more points in the bag, so we aim to finish in the top ten with both cars.”
Guillaume Dezoteux, Head of Vehicle Performance
“We had a fantastic qualifying session today, securing fifth place with Daniel and eighth place with Yuki. It was a very intense session, and the team did a fantastic job of adapting to the weather and track grip evolution. Like most of the cars around us, we used two sets of the soft in Q1. There was a high track improvement and both drivers managed to improve in their last lap with Yuki securing the second place, which was a great recovery after a difficult FP3. In Q2, we decided to go out early as the risk of rain was increasing, and we were seeing some drops in the pit lane. In the second run with new tyres, both cars did a very good lap and secured a slot in Q3. In the last qualifying session, we started on a used set of tyres and both drivers struggled more with the increasing wind intensity. In his last attempt, Daniel did a fantastic lap, less than 0.2s to pole and secured P5! Yuki also did a very good lap but a gust of wind in Turn 2 pushed him slightly off line and he lost some time there. Nevertheless, he managed to qualify in eighth position on the grid. It’s another starting grid with our two cars in the top 10 and we will review all the strategies for tomorrow to convert these competitive positions into good points.”