USA: Sunday struggle for Daniel in Texas

Daniel fails to make much headway after a Q1 exit in a testing afternoon at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin.

Race data
USA (Round 19 of 22), 23 October 2022
Circuit of the Americas, 56 laps, 5.513km
Qualified: 17th (started 15th after Zhou/Alfa Romeo and Tsunoda/AlphaTauri penalties)
Finished: 16th
Laps per position: 1 lap (11th), 1 lap (12th), 11 laps (13th), 4 laps (14th), 7 laps (15th), 9 laps (16th), 17 laps (17th), 6 laps (18th)
Pit stops/tyres: Lap 10 (medium/hard) and Lap 35 (hard/hard)
Fastest lap: 1:42.420 (14th, lap 55)
Points this event: 0
Points this season: 29 (12th in world championship)

Daniel's download
"I hoped today was going to be better ... but that's 2022, the year that it's been – so far off the pace that I can't lean on it, can't push and can't get the time out of it. The inconsistency of the lap times shows that it's a struggle. It's a big margin, and it remains a mystery.

"I love Texas and I love Austin, but that race for me was not enjoyable. I really thought after yesterday we had a bit more to show but it was really tough today. I could tell from early on in the race that it was going to be tricky.

"Obviously, days like this are pretty painful to try to deal with and understand as we put a lot of effort in but didn't get rewarded. We'll keep going."

How Daniel's race unfolded
* Started 15th, finished Lap 1 in 13th place after Sainz/Ferrari retirement and passing Magnussen/Haas.
* Passed by Tsunoda/AlphaTauri on Lap 5, fell to 14th.
* Pitted on Lap 10 from 13th, fell to 18th place.
* Moved up to 17th on Lap 17 when Bottas/Alfa Romeo retired.
* Pitted on Lap 35 from 11th, fell to 17th.
* Finished 16th after 56 laps, 90secs behind race-winner Verstappen/Red Bull, 6secs behind Schumacher/Haas in 15th and 13secs ahead of Latifi/Williams in 17th.

Next race
Round 20: Mexico (Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez), 30 October
Last race (2021): qualified 7th, finished 12th
Career: 6 races, 1 pole, 1 podium, 1 fastest lap, 29 points, 3 points finishes
Best finish: 3rd (2016)
Mexico highlights: Daniel's third and most recent F1 pole position came at this race in 2018, when he beat Red Bull Racing teammate Max Verstappen by 0.035secs to take top spot in qualifying. His sole podium in Mexico came in unusual circumstances in 2016, when he finished fifth on the road but was promoted to third after Verstappen and Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel were both hit with post-race time penalties. Also set the fastest race lap in 2016.