Daniel Ricciardo: “It’s lucky we don’t get these situations very often but it is what it is”

Daniel Ricciardo secured his best result of his McLaren F1 Team career at Spa-Francorchamps, but the Australian will not have wanted it to happen the way it did on Sunday.

Ricciardo’s excellent performance in Qualifying on Saturday gave him fourth on the grid, and that is the same position he finished as the Belgian Grand Prix was run for just a handful of laps behind the safety car as heavy rain prevented any green flag running.

Ricciardo was racing in his two-hundredth Grand Prix on Sunday, but he hopes for more entertainment for the fans and more action for the drivers in his two-hundred and first race this coming weekend in The Netherlands.

“Crazy, crazy day, crazy circumstances,” said Ricciardo.  “It’s lucky we don’t get these situations very often but it is what it is.

“Sorry to the fans and everyone that stayed out here all day to watch us race, they were awesome. We were really hoping to get a race and obviously it didn’t happen, but it’s no-one’s fault, it’s just the situation and circumstances today.

“We’ve got two races on consecutive weekends now so hopefully that makes up for it. It made quali more important, so I’m happy I managed to earn a good position yesterday.”

“I’m annoyed that yesterday’s crash hurt us a lot more than it should have done” – Lando Norris

Team-mate Lando Norris was equally frustrated not to get any chance to make gains on Sunday afternoon, with his crash during Qualifying and subsequent penalty for a gearbox change leaving him outside the points in fourteenth.

Norris felt he had a shot at pole position on Saturday, but the Briton suffered a huge crash at the Eau Rouge/Raidillon section that resulted him hitting the wall and ending the afternoon in an ambulance.

“I feel bad because things were going very well. I think I could have fought for pole position,” said Norris on Saturday.  “Everything was going extremely well.

“Since the first lap in Q1, things were going perfectly and the car was feeling hooked up. I felt confident with the car. It was tricky going out in Q3 because, even on the out-lap, I was saying how wet it was because I was aquaplaning quite a bit.

“It was just a difficult situation to be in. How much do you want to push? How much do you not? I think, a combination of pushing a bit too much for the weather at that point and aquaplaning a little bit in the middle of Eau Rouge obviously didn’t end too well.”

The team repaired the car overnight and Norris was cleared to race, but the conditions on Sunday were too dangerous for the race officials to let the drivers race, and it left the Briton rueing his crash from Saturday even more.

“It was just too wet to race,” said Norris.  “The fans were amazing, sticking with us all day and I’m disappointed they didn’t get to see much action or any racing, but it was the correct decision not to go ahead.

“I would have loved the opportunity to make up for yesterday, do some racing, do some overtaking and put on a good show.  The team in the garage did an amazing job getting the car ready for the race and it’s a shame we couldn’t make the most of their hard work, so I’m annoyed that yesterday’s crash hurt us a lot more than it should have done, but that’s the way it is and we move on to the next one.”

Lando Norris crashed during Qualifying on Saturday – Credit: McLaren F1 Team