RB F1 secures pivotal points from Sprint data, while Mekies provides insights on their challenging yet rewarding weekend.
RB F1 scored two points in Austria, thanks to Daniel Ricciardo’s stellar performance following a challenging start to the weekend. The team had been testing parts and settings during the Sprint, making significant progress on Sunday. Yuki Tsunoda experienced a more complicated Sunday, yet it wasn’t a crisis for Laurent Mekies, the team director.
“Since Barcelona, everyone at the factory and on track has been working diligently to deepen our understanding of the updates we introduced in Spain as part of our aggressive development programme. This effort continued in Austria during the sole free practice session, while the Sprint also provided valuable data.”
“It’s never ideal to make specification comparisons during a Sprint weekend, but we felt it was a necessary investment for our medium-term future. The team and the drivers did an excellent job fine-tuning the best possible configuration for Saturday and Sunday.”
“We’re bringing back two solid points, with Daniel finishing 9th after an intense battle and after a strong qualifying on Saturday, which saw us finish just two-hundredths off Q3. Yuki was only a fraction of a second off in qualifying and in the race, but with the midfield battle tighter than ever, that was enough to keep him out of the points.”
“Once again, we have just a few days before hitting the track again, this time at Silverstone, close to our UK-based factory. The slightest difference in pace can move you from a points position to the back of the grid, so everyone at the factory will be pushing hard to continue our car development programme and its understanding.”
“Two important points” in the championship
Claudio Balestri, the Chief Engineer in charge of RB F1’s performance, is pleased to score two more points, with a very opportunistic strategy for Ricciardo, even though Tsunoda’s race left the Italian with regrets.
“We opted to start the race on medium tyres, like the majority of other cars, and by the end of the second lap, Daniel was 12th and Yuki 13th. At this point, we decided to split the strategies, bringing Daniel in and leaving Yuki out on track for the first stint.”
“The undercut worked very well with Daniel as we gained positions over both Alpines, but the Haas cars stayed ahead of him for the rest of the race. In the final laps, he tried to put additional pressure on Magnussen, but we couldn’t get past, so Daniel finished 9th, scoring two very important points.”
“As for Yuki, his race was different and a bit more challenging. We ran a long medium stint for the first relay, and the pace was similar to the car in front with a similar strategy, but by running a shorter final stint, we couldn’t maximise the advantage, finishing 15th.”
“Mixed feelings, but we remain optimistic, and now our thoughts turn to next week’s race at Silverstone, where we aim to improve further and score more significant points.”
Mekies Reflects on RB F1’s Tough Yet Fruitful Weekend. Mekies Reflects on RB F1’s Tough Yet Fruitful Weekend
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