‘That wasn’t fun’ – Ricciardo reflects on painful Q1 exit in Singapore amid speculation over his future

Daniel Ricciardo cut a downbeat figure after making an early exit from qualifying at the Singapore Grand Prix, with the Australian ending the session in P16 on a weekend where he has faced questions over his future.

RB enjoyed a successful Friday at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, a day in which Ricciardo and team mate Yuki Tsunoda featured within the top 10 during both practice sessions. This led to Ricciardo speaking positively about the team seemingly having a “decent package” at the track.

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However, the picture looked very different come Saturday, with Ricciardo ending FP3 down in P17 before a tough qualifying saw him miss the cut for Q2, meaning that he will line up in 16th place on the grid.

Asked after the session where the pace had gone from Friday, the 35-year-old simply answered: “Yeah, today wasn’t good. Yeah… not sure. Not much to say.”

Pushed further on whether the VCARB 01 felt different – or if it had been a matter of lacking grip – Ricciardo explained: “We didn’t change much but, yeah, just was a lot harder for us to honestly get the most out of the new tyres, so nothing productive to say.”

The eight-time race winner also dismissed the possibility of the change in form being down to lacking confidence in the car.

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“No, we were really confident yesterday,” he added. “Yesterday was good.

“That’s why we didn’t really change much and this morning it was… on the medium [tyre] we were okay, then we put the soft on and we were nowhere, but we thought obviously quali we’d get it sorted and we didn’t so, yeah, that wasn’t fun.”

The result will perhaps do nothing to quell the rumours circulating over Ricciardo’s future at RB, with speculation over the possibility of his seat at the squad being taken by reserve driver Liam Lawson, who has been watching on in the garage during the weekend in Singapore.

There have even been suggestions of this potentially being Ricciardo’s last Grand Prix should the team opt to draft in Lawson for the final six races of the campaign.

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Speaking further to Sky Sports F1 after qualifying, Ricciardo was asked how easy it had been to block the talk out, as well as being quizzed on what his mindset would be entering into Sunday.

The RB driver jokingly referenced Max Verstappen’s recent punishment for using bad language during a press conference when he responded: “Hmmm, I’ll get a day of community service if I swear, so let’s leave it there.”