Daniel Ricciardo had another bad day at work during qualifying at the US Grand Prix. The Australian bowed out of qualifying in the very first session and finished P17, 9 places behind his teammate Lando Norris. Ricciardo expressed his disappointment with himself and the team in the post-qualifying interview.

Daniel Ricciardo has decided to take a year off from Formula 1 after two disappointing years with McLaren. While 2021 was bad, despite winning the Italian GP, the current year has been worse. Not only has he not secured a podium finish until now, but he has also fared much worse than his teammate. The qualifying at COTA was no different.

Daniel Ricciardo voices his disappointment with the qualifying result

Despite having another year left on his contract, Ricciardo and McLaren decided to part ways mutually at the end of the season. Since then, he was in talks with Alpine to replace the outgoing Fernando Alonso. However, when the news broke that Alpine signed Pierre Gasly, the Honey Badger revealed his plans of taking a year off.

Despite that, he always appeared enthusiastic about doing better in the remaining season. However, another disappointing outing seems to have taken a toll on him. Talking about the qualifying session at COTA on Saturday, he revealed, “That’s just how it’s gone this year. I’d obviously try to push on it and I don’t get much reward, trying to hang onto it.”

He continued, “It was frustrating, I knew that I cost a line that wasn’t good this year. Of course, I nearly spun more than once. Obviously, when quali comes, you try and lean on the car and that’s just not giving me what I want so yeah, pretty frustrated.”

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Daniel Ricciardo pays his condolences to Dietrich Mateschitz’s family

Daniel Ricciardo had his best years in Formula 1 with Red Bull. Of the 8 races that he has won in his career, 7 came during his time there. The deceased Red Bull founder Dietrich Mateschitz played a crucial role in Ricciardo’s F1 career.

Paying his condolences while talking about the qualifying, Ricciardo said, “Obviously not a good session and then got the news about Mr. Mateschitz just before the quali, as well.”

“Just hasn’t been the best last hour and just want to pass my condolences to his family and all the Red Bull family. [He] Played an integral part in my career. Very instrumental into just getting me where I am ultimately. So, really sad to hear that news.”

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Daniel also talked about looking forward to Sunday, as he was positive about the track. He said, “You can definitely race around here.”