Ricciardo frustrated: 'Felt like I was at the pit wall at Red Bull'

Daniel Ricciardo admits it is frustrating that he barely managed to get any mileage in the first two free practice sessions for the Japanese Grand Prix. In FP2, he had to give up his Formula 1 car to debutant home hero Ayumu Iwasa, while FP2 fell into the water due to wet conditions.

Ricciardo frustrated after missing FP1 in Japan

In total, Ricciardo managed just nine laps on Friday at Suzuka. He drove those in wet conditions during the second free practice session. During the first practice session, he had to cede his F1 car to Red Bull Racing junior Ayumu Iwasa, who got to make his debut in the premier class in his home country.

All in all, it was an unproductive day for Ricciardo. "It is what it is. We have to give up our seats for one session in the year. Ayumu had his home track, so, obviously, it made sense to give him a run, so that’s fine. Obviously that it is what it is," the Australian began.

Friday in Japan reminded Ricciardo of last year when he was without a permanent F1 seat until Nyck de Vries was shown the door after 10 races. "It was a lot like early last year when I was spending the race weekends on the Red Bull pit wall," he explains. He does not necessarily mean that negatively: as a driver, he says he learns a lot from watching the data.

He continues: "You actually see quite a bit. We’re looking through a lot of data and you watch onboards and we hear the comments from the drivers and I’m trying to then understand what exactly they need. Then I can kind of see it in the data and relate to that." Ricciardo says this will also help him know better how to approach the sessions still on the schedule.