David Croft brands Australian GP qualifying ‘massive disappointment’ for 3-pole F1 driver

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David Croft has branded qualifying for the Australian GP a ‘massive disappointment’ for Visa Cash App RB F1 Team driver Daniel Ricciardo following a career-worst result.

The 34-year-old is racing on home soil for the first time in two years this weekend. But Perth native Ricciardo has a mountain to climb if he is to score the RB driver’s first point of 2024 in Melbourne. He could only finish the Bahrain GP in P13 and the Saudi Arabian GP in just P16.

Ricciardo did not contest the 2023 Australian GP after McLaren dropped him to sign Oscar Piastri following the 2022 season. Melbourne has also seldom proven to be a happy hunting ground for the Australian. He has only finished five of his previous nine races at Albert Park.

RB driver Daniel Ricciardo has the worst Australian GP qualifying of his Formula 1 career

The stewards also disqualified Ricciardo from the Australian GP in 2014 when he claimed P2 on debut for Red Bull. They found his RB10 in breach of the maximum fuel limit. Ricciardo is still in search of a home podium to add to his 32 rostrums but might have to wait until 2025.

Ricciardo could only manage P18 in qualifying for the 2024 Australian GP with Visa Cash App RB. Just Sauber driver Zhou Guanyu posted a slower lap time than the three-time Formula 1 pole sitter. Williams had withdrawn Logan Sargeant to give Alex Albon their only chassis left.

RB initially thought Ricciardo had done enough to follow teammate Yuki Tsunoda into Q2 in qualifying at the Australian GP. He posted a 1:17.466 to slot into P12 with Tsunoda up in P8. But Ricciardo lost his best lap time and returned to P18 with a 1:18.085 to Zhou’s 1:18.188.

Daniel Ricciardo shocked David Croft with his ‘disappointing’ qualifying result in 2024

The stewards deleted Ricciardo’s best time, which would have comfortably put the RB pilot through to Q2, after exceeding track limits at Turn 5. He put all four wheels of his VCARB 01 across the white line to record the Perth native’s worst-ever qualifying result in Melbourne.

Ricciardo shocked Sky Sports F1 commentator Croft by only sealing P18 in qualifying for the Australian GP. The RB racer’s previous worst qualifying result on home soil was back in 2013 during his initial stint with the Faenza outfit, then called Toro Rosso, when he managed P14.

“That is a massive disappointment,” Croft said on Sky Sports F1 (23/3, 05:19). “That is a huge disappointment for Daniel Ricciardo, out in Q1 for the first time ever in Australia.”