Ricciardo jokes of ‘protest’ to improve grid spot

Daniel Ricciardo joked McLaren could "protest someone and gain a position" after qualifying 14th in Qatar.

After being knocked out in Q2 at the Losail International Circuit, Ricciardo conceded he “just didn’t have the pace” in qualifying.

The McLaren driver will start on the less favourable right-hand side of the grid which, with no support races taking place, will have very low grip with no rubber laid.

“Honestly, I just didn’t have the pace," he said. "I think all weekend we were trying to find a bit more. It didn’t feel that bad but [I was] just trying to carry a little bit more speed through some corners and just couldn’t get it to hold on.

“The insult to injury is the right-hand side of the grid is going to be terrible. I know that sounds real negative but it’s speaking fact at the moment. There are no support categories this weekend.

“We’ll see if they can give it a polish tonight or we can protest someone and gain a position! They all got in my way, so I can gain a position!”

Ricciardo struggling with long corner issues

Ricciardo’s team-mate Lando Norris qualified sixth on the grid after making a breakthrough on his set-up following the final qualifying session, but Ricciardo was left complaining of a lack of grip when he pushed to the limit.

“Some corners feel pretty good, but we know this year these long corners is where we struggle more than others," the Australian added.

"Not being able to do a whole lot with the approach, that’s where we are handcuffed in some ways.

"To make it hang on you have to slow down too much so we lost a lot of corner speed compared to some of the others. It’s frustrating, 14th is not great, but we will try to find a way to make it better tomorrow.”

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