Ricciardo urges rivals to be ‘sensible’ and avoid qualifying mess

Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo has urged his fellow F1 drivers to act sensibly in Saturday’s qualifying and avoid resorting to the messy antics that undermined last year’s Italian Grand Prix Q3 shootout.

In 2019, almost all ten drivers took to the track simultaneously in Q3, only to bunch up and neutralize each other as each sought a tow from the other. The end result was a train of cars that failed to ever get going.

In Friday’s FIA F3 qualifying session, the 30-car field revived the shambles, with the group jockeying for position on the entry to Parabolica as drivers sought a tow, only to impede each other.

Hamilton bracing for ‘nightmare’ traffic in qualifying

Ricciardo said he was “watching with some rage” the F3 scuffle but hopes his peers will be more sensible in this afternoon’s qualifying at Monza.

“The bunching, everyone fighting for a tow, that’s where it could get messy,” Ricciardo said. “I watched the F3 qualifying earlier and it was a mess.

“I think ten drivers should get penalties for that. I was just watching with some rage, it was a bit of a mess.

“I think we will be a bit more sensible, most of us go out on the same lap, so it’s really just trying to figure it out before the last corner, the timed lap should be OK.”

However, the group’s behaviour in qualifying may remain in check by the FIA’s decision to introduce a minimum lap time.

But in free practice on Friday, several drivers complained of cars running too slow, although no penalties were handed about by the stewards.

Romain was a little frustrated with Lance!#ItalianGP 🇮🇹 #F1 pic.twitter.com/cPuYns1UUi

— Formula 1 (@F1) September 4, 2020

After the opening day of running, pace-setter Lewis Hamilton said that he was fearing “nightmare” traffic in qualifying, while AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly also forecasted congestion issues.

“It’s so tight here, especially with the tows and in qualifying it will be so important to get them right,” Gasly said.

“We saw how messy it already was only for FP2, nobody wanted to go first, so I guess tomorrow is going to be even worse.

“I think it’s going to be tricky, but for Sunday I am quite confident that we can have an exciting race again.”

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