Daniel Ricciardo Debriefs a ‘Speed Bump’ Turkish GP F1 Weekend

The high-flying Daniel Ricciardo encountered a troubled weekend at Istanbul Park this weekend. After suffering a horror qualifying outing, the Australian entered the race hoping for a comeback. However, reality ended up treating Ricciardo much harsher than he might have anticipated.

He did enjoy a decent getaway at lights out and crawled his way up to P16, but his progress stalled from thereon. And then arrived the strategic gamble which initially backfired, then paid off for a while, but yet again came back to haunt him during the dying minutes of the race.

What did Daniel Ricciardo say?

Following the Turkish GP, Ricciardo gave out a debrief on the rather painful weekend through social media. The Honey Badger reckoned that it was a weekend to forget.

A #TurkishGP debrief with (a very cold) @DanielRicciardo.

Not our weekend this time, but there’s plenty more in the season. pic.twitter.com/nFyNy8iYb0

— McLaren (@McLarenF1) October 10, 2021

“I think, in a way, a weekend to forget. Obviously, it wasn’t particularly competitive. But, you know, I also wanna learn from it,” he said.

“These are quite unique conditions, but, who knows, we could get them again. So, we have to try and learn from that. 

Formula One F1 – Turkish Grand Prix – Intercity Istanbul Park, Istanbul, Turkey – October 10, 2021 McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo in action during the race REUTERS/Murad Sezer

“In terms of forgetting it, I definitely don’t want to let it affect our momentum. I think we’ve had a really strong few weekends. This was, let’s say, just a speed bump. But, we’re still gonna charge forward and stay positive. Try to learn from it but definitely move on from it. And yeah, not let it hinder any of our spirits,” he added.

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How the unusual strategy backfired for Ricciardo

The Australian was the first of the lot to enter the pits, on as early as lap 22, and switched to a new set of intermediates. It was more of a gamble by McLaren, as Ricciardo wasn’t able to progress anywhere beyond P16; the stop dragged the McLaren driver back to P19.

And while many anticipated Ricciardo to post much better lap times with the fresh tires, that wasn’t meant to be. Instead, he was hardly matching the front-runners, which gave the rival teams enough reason not to bring their drivers for a change of tires.

Formula One F1 – Turkish Grand Prix – Intercity Istanbul Park, Istanbul, Turkey – October 10, 2021 General view during the race REUTERS/Umit Bektas

Yes, following the early graining, Ricciardo was back up to speed, gaining more positions either by on-track moves or by capitalizing others’ pit stops.

But, at one point, Ricciardo found himself surrounded by drivers with much fresher tires. Hence, from fighting for the points, he drastically fell back to P13, seeing the checkered flag from the same position. So, after enduring such a rollercoaster weekend in Istanbul, can the Honey Badger bounce back at the COTA in two weeks’ time?

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