As the first segment of qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix came to an end on Saturday, Yuki Tsunoda received the sad news that he had been eliminated.
His response said it all.
“Yeah, it's really stupid,” Tsunoda complained over the radio. “It's really hard to drive. It's really stupid.”
After being warned to “stay clean over the radio,” Tsunoda returned to the pits and gave a detailed report of the qualifying session.
“Today was tough. Yesterday we started quite behind the pace and then each session we were able to close the gap to the midfield but unfortunately it was clearly not enough. It's frustrating and there are some unknowns. It's not an easy car to drive all weekend so we need to understand what's going on,” Tsunoda said in the team's post-session report. “I'm pretty happy with the laps I did in qualifying but I think there's still something missing. I feel like we just lacked pace overall this weekend. There's differences with each car so I'm sure there's a lot to learn. We'll do our best tomorrow.”
Tsunoda was eliminated at the end of Q1, while Daniel Ricciardo managed to make it into the second qualifying segment but ended his day there. Tsunoda will start from 16th, while Ricciardo will move up to 12th at the start of Monza.
However, the veteran driver believes the intensity of the field, and the uncertainty over how the hard compound will perform in race conditions, could mean overtaking opportunities are possible on Sunday.
“I'm pretty happy with my lap today, I didn't have any loose ends. I knew after this morning's run that it would be tough to get into Q3 so it was good to be so close at the end. Ultimately I'm happy with the lap and I feel like I did everything I could. Unfortunately it wasn't enough but the field is really close,” Ricciardo said. “Realistically there's a mix of cars from P8 to P20 and the battle for points will be tomorrow. Nobody's on the hards yet so who knows what will happen in the race. I'm close enough and if I have the pace I can overtake here and I'm looking forward to moving up the order tomorrow.”
The Visa Cash App RB F1 team may want Ricciardo to move up the order tomorrow, as rival Haas' Nico Hulkenberg will start in the points in 10th place for sixth place in the Formula 1 Constructors' Championship. With VCARB currently holding a seven-point lead in that race, every position and every point counts.
