Ricciardo’s rocky start to the 2022 season appeared to continue on Friday when he lost the car on his first fast lap in FP2, scoring the pool barriers and veering straight into the Tecpro wall.
The significant damage to his car forced the Australian to sit out the rest of the session, before Saturday with just one hour of FP1 testing under his belt.
Ricciardo explained that the accident was not caused by taking too much curb, a classic mistake at the narrow but fast chicane, but instead said his car had already started to lose grip at the rear before the pool entrance, pointing to its side of the garage going as extreme with the forward FP2 configuration.
“It was strange. I think if someone crashes there you normally see on the exit if they maybe take too much curb into turn 14 and then lose the car. But I have already started to lose the car around turn 13,” said Ricciardo.
“We pushed a bit too far probably in a few areas with the setup. We had a good morning and obviously you try a few things for FP2 to try and maximize a bit more performance but let’s say we overshot it and you don’t’ I don’t know until you try it.
“Obviously it was my first trick, so I couldn’t really find out, it happened straight away. I tried my best to save it, but I couldn’t. Obviously , we missed the whole session. , but I’m fine. We’ll be ready to leave tomorrow.
Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren MCL36
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Ricciardo said he was not too discouraged by his latest setback as in Friday afternoon’s first practice session he had found the confidence he needed.
In FP1 he was seventh fastest, just one tenth behind teammate Lando Norris.
Norris finished fifth in both practice sessions as the best of the rest, with McLaren looking slightly ahead of Mercedes.
“It was fun, I enjoyed this morning,” added Ricciardo. “We were always at the sharp end, and I think I had good confidence. [The cars are] heavy, they’re stiff, the ride is a little bumpier, and definitely less fun in terms of just… you’re really fighting.
“And with this heat, it’s very physical but I had fun in FP1. I’m sorry I missed a few races in FP2 because I was eager to try the softs.
“Anyway, tomorrow we’ll have a chance again and I’m sure they’ll fix the car tonight and put it in a good place for tomorrow. Lando had a very good FP2 at first sight, so we can bounce back.”
