Daniel Ricciardo hopes that the Spanish Grand Prix will prove to be an “anomaly” after his Renault Formula One team missed the problems for the first time in 2020.
The team scored 4 points at the last 70th Anniversary Grand Prix at Silverstone thanks to the eighth position of Esteban Ocon.
However, Ricciardo was only able to finish eleventh in Barcelona, while Ocon also lost the thirteenth place.
Both drivers implemented one-stop-shop strategies, which emerged as a solution that worked for Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, who ranked seventh.
Ricciardo added that high-speed racing at Spa-Francorchamps and Monza will be more suitable for the RS20 car.
“In fact, I hope this weekend will be an anomaly, an Achilles heel for us,” Ricciardo said.
“Everyone is very familiar with this track, and finding something extra is a challenge.
“But we’ve had a smart pace all year round, and here it didn’t fit with that, so I hope it’s an exclusive event.
“Let’s clearly check to be informed of them and Spa, Monza, those are tracks where we are generally quite strong, and we deserve to have a bigger race, and leave this behind.
“I am convinced that the car is a step forward and better, and I am still convinced that we can be a state-of-the-art car every two weekends.
“In the rankings, if we had that extra half-tenth, we would start at points and we would have ended there.
“We just have to be perfect, and it’s up to the pilots, we can’t have a hard time, because this midfield war is so close.”
Ricciardo admitted that it was going to be difficult to score problems from 12th place on a track where overtaking is complicated.
“We backed small margins, we were so close to the 10 most sensitive.
“We don’t have that position on the track. We were only Vettel when he objected, and he controlled to take seventh position at the end.
“Possibly there would have been a little there that we got lost, but let’s take a look and check it to perceive our mistakes, and do better in two weeks.
“It’s a disgrace when you’re done with any of the cars, with no stitches.
“In fact, I think it’s a little harder for us here than Silverstone, I think everyone is more competitive and it’s a track that everyone knows very well.
“This already makes it a little complicated in itself, locating that extra tenth. I think Spa can be better, you can overtake and laugh a little more than here.
“It’s one of those tracks where it’s a little frustrating, you get closer to the car and you get a little more pace, but it’s hard and you lose the grip of the tires and the support.
“I saw a lot of trouble in front of me, we were all coming to Vettel, but a little too late.”