RB delighted to score a point despite lack of pace

F1 Grand Prix, GP Great Britain, Silverstone Circuit

RB driver Yuki Tsunoda revealed that mixed conditions helped him to score a point at yesterday’s British Grand Prix after the team struggled for outright pace again.

Despite recent upgrades, the Visa Cash RB has struggled for pace in recent races. The Silverstone qualifying session saw Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo fail to make the cut into Q3.

However, rainy conditions and misfortunes for Charles Leclerc and George Russell allowed Tsunoda to finish in P2, adding a poiny to his and RB’s tally.

“It was a good but tough race. Based on the pace we had in Free Practice we knew it would be difficult to score points in dry conditions, so I think the wet conditions helped us keep the gap to the cars in front small.

“Normally, in previous races I haven’t appreciated the rain, but I think it helped us today. It’s one point and we take it. Now we look ahead and move forward, and I’m excited about using what we’ve learnt over the last couple of weekends for the coming races before the break.

With the twisty and challenging Hungaroring next on the schedule, Tsunoda hopes that his VCARB01 can display a better performance: “Hungary has a mix of high and low speed, so hopefully we can use our strengths and fight in the top ten.”

Ricciardo was unable to capitalize on the tricky conditions, and ended the Silverstone round in a disappointing P13. The Australian indicated that recent updates have not brought the step forward the team had hoped for.

“It was a mixed conditions race which was exciting; ultimately grabbing some opportunities, but unfortunately, we were not competitive.

“It was one of those days where we struggled more than we should have, so we’ll try to get into it and figure out why. In the last three weekends, I think we have lost out a little bit on the latest upgrades battle compared to some of our competitors in the midfield, so we've got some work to do looking at the next races.

“It's good now to have a week off for all of us to reset and come back to Budapest which is a completely different circuit.”

Speaking of RB’s performance at the British Grand Prix, technical director Jody Egginton hailed the team’s strategy calls that enabled Tsunoda to finish in the points.

"The weather has certainly played its part today, but overall, I feel we made the right calls at the right time, which certainly contributed to getting a car into the points.

“Yuki drove a strong race today, making a couple of passes on the opening laps and having enough pace to keep himself in touch with those in front. On Daniel’s side of the garage, race day was not so straightforward. An issue was identified with his car before the race and resulted in a significant amount of work to get his car turned around for the race.

Egginton hopes that aerodynamic upgrades will help the Faenza-based outfit lift its performance.

“In terms of overall performance, the midfield remains very tight, and the focus remains on delivering aero updates to the car to move the package forward and give ourselves the best possible chance of scoring points.”