Riccardo downbeat after having to 'suck up' qualifying struggles

Daniel Ricciardo has voiced his "frustration" at his qualifying form, with the Australian driver trailing Yuki Tsunoda 7-3 in grid-setting sessions this year.

The 34-year-old has struggled to compete with his RB team-mate generally since the start of the season, and his feelings came to the fore after qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix, with Ricciardo saying he needs to "take a good look" at himself to identify where he is wanting.

In Monte Carlo, the Australian qualified P12, whilst Tsunoda was able to get through to Q3 for the sixth time this term - something Ricciardo has achieved just once in grand prix qualifying. 

After the session, Ricciardo explained that his tyres were falling away and that he was not able to get the Pirellis hot enough, nor get enough energy running through them. However, he does not feel tyres tell the full story of his qualifying struggles.

"I don't want to just be like 'hey, tyres this and that.' I want to I want to try and take a good look at myself and see what I'm missing," he told media including RacingNews365.

"And then we'll look at what the car can give me to help me out, because I think the frustrating thing is I can do it, but it's obviously not happening frequently enough. 

“That's where I'm getting frustrated with myself - trying to understand why it's not consistently week-in-week-out being a Q3 contender."

'Just have to suck this one up'

Tsunoda was ultimately able to line up in eighth for the Monaco Grand Prix, where he finished, picking four points and increasing his advantage over Ricciardo to 14 points - 19 to five.

Two of the three times the Australian driver has out-qualified his team-mate has been in the two sprint qualifying session, with the only other time being ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix. 

In Miami, Ricciardo converted fourth on the grid for the shorter race into his sole points-scoring finish of the season. Now, ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix - where the 34-year-old clinched his first F1 victory 10 years ago - he must try to re-claim his qualifying form, which is something he will be focusing on.

"Of course, I can say 'tyres felt this and that', but I need to try and understand what I was doing different to Yuki and try to understand that," he said, considering the delta between him and Tsunoda over one lap.

"But saying 'try and understand it' - and you need to - it doesn't change the results. So, just have to suck this one up," he added of his Monaco qualifying.