Daniel Ricciardo has made a promising start on his return to Formula 1, qualifying 15th for the US Grand Prix.
Key points:
- Daniel Ricciardo returns to F1 after a broken wrist
- Oscar Piastri qualifies 10th for US Grand Prix
- Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc will start Monday’s race on pole
The Australian, who completed his first F1 session since August, made it into the second qualifying session in his AlphaTauri.
Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc will start on pole, ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris on Monday morning AEDT.
World champion Max Verstappen will start sixth after his best lap time — which would have been good enough for pole — was deleted because he exceeded the track limits at the penultimate corner.
Ricciardo has missed the past five grand prix after breaking his wrist during a practice session in the Netherlands.
The Australian hit the wall to avoid crashing into his countryman Oscar Piastri, with the injury ruling him out of the Dutch Grand Prix and the following four race weekends.
In Texas, Riccardo was slower than his teammate Yuki Tsunoda — who qualified 11th — by about three-tenths of a second.
Due to a sprint race being held during this race weekend, teams only had a singular, one-hour practice session to test their cars.
Ricciardo said after qualifying it was difficult to judge the true performance of his AlphaTauri with little time behind the wheel.
“There was nothing physically holding me back today, so it was about finding the feeling in the car and the set-up,” he said.
“It’s hard to predict what we could’ve done with only one hour in the car this morning and then straight into qualifying, but the last lap was already feeling a little poor.
“It’s difficult to only have one session where you have to set the car up for what it is for qualifying.
“I wish I wasn’t starting P15, but it’s nice to be back behind the wheel.”
Ricciardo has competed in two races this season, after starting the year without a team.
He was chosen to replace Dutch driver Nick De Vries for AlphaTauri, finishing 13th in Hungary and 16th in Belgium.
Piastri could not match his teammate Norris, who will start on the front row, struggling to match the pace of the leaders in the final stages of qualifying.
Piastri and Norris finished second and third at the previous grand prix in Qatar, with Piastri also winning the sprint race that weekend.
McLaren is hunting down Aston Martin for fourth in the constructions’ championship, a far cry from the beginning of the year when it appeared the famed British team would be one of the season’s backmarkers.
Piastri, who has risen to ninth in the drivers’ championship in his rookie season, is tackling the Circuit of the Americas in Texas for the first time this weekend.
A sprint race, and accompanying qualifying session will be held on Sunday morning AEDT.
Piastri started on pole and won the last sprint race in Qatar, a fortnight ago.
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