Daniel's dry run rolls on in Doha desert

A difficult first lap and a frustrating race of fuel saving adds up to a 12th-place result for Daniel at the Qatar Grand Prix. 

The best thing about the inaugural Qatar Grand Prix? When it ended, as Daniel admitted after a difficult night under desert skies in Qatar could produce only a 12th-place finish. 

Formula One's first visit to a circuit more synonymous with MotoGP came at the end of a gruelling triple-header that took in Mexico City and Sao Paulo before heading to Qatar, and Daniel's exhaustion was only exacerbated by frustration after qualifying, where he lamented being in a "stalemate" after finishing 14th, knocked out in Q2. 

Fast-forward to race day (or race night), and Daniel had his sights set on a strong first lap at a circuit that was a thrilling high-speed challenge for the drivers, but one where chances to overtake were likely to be limited. From the dirty side of the grid, Daniel found himself in a first-corner sandwich, and his race soon unravelled from there. 

"I was in the middle of (Aston Martin's Lance) Stroll and (Ferrari's) Charles (Leclerc), and the closer I got to Turn 1, I couldn't see any more," he explained. 

"If you can't see the apex, you look for braking markers and I couldn't see them, so I had no idea where Turn 1 was. I lifted and in hindsight it was way too early, and I was kind of in the middle and in no man's land. I lifted so I didn't do something silly in Turn 1 and go up someone's gearbox, so that cost me a bit."

Daniel finished lap one in 16th place, and the opening stint before his sole pit stop on lap 25 was one of occasional pace, but regular confusion. 

"Very early I had a fuel warning on the dash, and I was told to save fuel by the team," he says. 

"I was saving so much so early that the tyres got cold, the brakes got cold and we were just at times two seconds a lap slower. We were not going to get it to the end (of the race) without saving, and I was doing so much saving that … it was kind of pointless doing what we were doing. Then it got to a point where I was told not to save anymore, but the race was gone by then. 

"Something went wrong, some sort of miscalculation, an error in the reading that forced us to do what we did. That's something we need to look into because it dictated all the race." 

Daniel dropped to 16th after his pit stop for hard tyres, and edged his way back to 13th before Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) retired with eight laps left, crossing the line a lap down in 12th. 

"I'm glad it's over because we had a very painful race … we were a passenger for 75 per cent of it," Daniel admits. 

Sunday was Daniel's third race in the past four without points, but a non-score for nearest championship rival Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri) means he retains eighth place overall with two races left in 2021, the first of them coming at the inaugural Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at the new street circuit in Jeddah on December 5.