Daniel Ricciardo calls Hungarian GP qualifying outing as ‘irrelevant’ despite finishing ahead of Yuki Tsunoda

Daniel Ricciardo is in the running to score points at the 2023 Hungarian GP.

Daniel Ricciardo calls Hungarian GP qualifying outing as ‘irrelevant’ despite finishing ahead of Yuki Tsunoda

Daniel Ricciardo (Credits: Planet F1) and Yuki Tsunoda (Credits: Top Gear)

Daniel Ricciardo, the former eight-time Grand Prix winner, has made it known that his decent P13 slot during the Hungarian GP qualifying session is irrelevant. He is looking at the bigger picture and is not too fussed about ending his qualifying exploits ahead of Yuki Tsunoda on his first head-to-head with him.

Yuki Tsunoda has been with the AlphaTauri team for a few years, but despite this fact, Daniel Ricciardo was able to get the better of him during yesterday’s qualifying session. Several pundits were expecting Tsunoda to bash the Australian, but to everyone’s surprise, he was able to pull one out of the bag.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxukjFzVtZE

After the high-intensity qualifying session, Ricciardo was asked to dwell on ending his exploits ahead of his teammate and while talking about the same, he told racingnews365.com, “I had no idea where to expect to be on the grid, so 13th seems somewhat irrelevant. My reference is Yuki for now and he is, watching from the outside, a good reference because not only this year, but the second half of last year with Pierre, he was a lot more competitive.”

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“So whether I am ahead or behind, just to be there is positive for me. I felt pretty comfortable. I was a bit off the pace [on Friday] but I knew where that was missing so I felt quite confident in the car, but all of us can get to 95 percent at this level… it is then that last five percent. I found a bit in quali, but as always there’s a little bit more.“

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Daniel Ricciardo will look to score points on his first F1 outing of 2023

Daniel Riccirdo (Credits: Twitter)
Daniel Ricciardo (Credits: @autosports/Twitter)

By ending his exploits in P13 for the upcoming Hungarian Grand Prix, Daniel Ricciardo has put himself in a decent position to score points on his first race outing for AlphaTauri. The Hungaroring is considered Monaco without walls and if the 34-year-old can get past a few cars going into Turn 1, then there would be every chance of him ending his exploits in the Top 10.

Moreover, Ricciardo is a veteran of the sport who has got a plethora of experience when it comes to wheel-to-wheel racing. Over the years, he has amassed all the necessary skills to be successful in the sport, and it would be down to him during the race to showcase them all again and prove that he still has it.

The Hungaroring has been on the F1 calendar since 1986 and over the years, has produced some extremely exciting races. Considering everything that has happened so far at the Faenza-based team, can you see Daniel Ricciardo scoring points in his very first race of the 2023 Formula 1 season?

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