Ricciardo not 'too discouraged' after lacklustre Belgium GP

Daniel Ricciardo does not want to be "too discouraged" after he missed out on scoring points for AlphaTauri at the Belgian Grand Prix.

The Australian struggled to match teammate Yuki Tsunoda, who worked his way through the field and ran in the top ten for most of the race.

The Japanese driver went on to score points for the third time this season, while Ricciardo finished down in P16.

Ricciardo discussed his problems in the race with media, including RacingNews365: "In terms of pace, I think even in clear air I was struggling a lot.

"I feel like I was probably just not producing enough grip, and then [the car] was sliding, [and the tyres] overheating really quickly."

Despite not scoring points before the summer break, Ricciardo is not letting his performance affect him.

"I don't want to be too discouraged, it was our only dry session all weekend so it could be something as simple as set up and we went the wrong way," he explained.

"But I just wish I could have been able to attack a little more."

Putting things into perspective

This is just the second race for Ricciardo at AlphaTauri after being drafted in to replace Nyck de Vries.

Red Bull Motorsport Advisor Helmut Marko believed he could have scored points on his return with the team in Hungary, if he did not get caught up in a first-lap incident with Zhou Guanyu.

"It's just tough in a race when you're not really making progress, and that's where you try a few things [but sometimes] it doesn't work, or you lock up, or you have a moment," explained Ricciardo.

"So you kind of just feel like: ‘Alright, today's maybe not the day.’ But nine days ago, I hadn't driven this car, so when I put everything into perspective, I think we're okay."