Daniel Ricciardo candidly admitted that AlphaTauri faced a humbling challenge in terms of pace when compared to their Formula 1 rivals during the Las Vegas Grand Prix. As the chequered flag fell, Ricciardo found himself in the 14th position among the 17 cars remaining on the track, failing to secure any points for the team.
The Las Vegas Grand Prix marked a significant deviation from AlphaTauri’s recent performance, as it was the first race in the last four where they failed to accrue any points. The situation was further compounded by Yuki Tsunoda’s premature exit from the race.
In reflecting on the disappointing outcome, Ricciardo unveiled his surprise at the team’s lack of pace, expressing a level of embarrassment at their inability to compete more competitively within the grid. The admission underscores the challenges AlphaTauri faced at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, prompting a reevaluation of their strategy and performance for future races.
Ricciardo: Las Vegas was humiliating
“I think we thought maybe we would have a bit more [pace],” Ricciardo said. “I was definitely optimistic coming into the race. I knew where we had been suffering this weekend. It’s really just warm-up, getting the tyre working.
“I knew the start would be difficult but once everything kind of settled I felt like we would be able to get into a rhythm and show a little bit more pace. But it wasn’t the case, and I think as well with all the restarts, we suffered so much more than the others with warm-up.
“I was getting overtaken on the outside of Turn 3. And the outside is really slippery and for them to have more grip, I was just like ‘oh man’. It was pretty humiliating. We honestly just couldn’t do anything.
“On one hand we couldn’t do anything with what we had but obviously we need to find out what the reasons are because that’s what held us back all weekend: one-lap pace and today in the long run.”
