RB was tipped to be one of the surprise packages for 2024, having built on a strong end to its 2023 campaign under its previous AlphaTauri guise.
And while Ricciardo had played down the hype around his rebranded team ahead of the Sakhir event, RB did prove to be a Q3 contender after Yuki Tsunoda and Ricciardo qualified 11th and 14th respectively.
Tsunoda particularly had a right to feel aggrieved after missing the cut by a mere 0.007s, while Ricciardo - 0.150s off the top 10 - admitted he didn't wring an optimal lap out of the VCARB01.
"I'm disappointed I didn't put it together because that's what qualifying is for. And you meant to put it together when it counts, so I'm kind of grumpy at myself." he said.
"I didn't drive shit or anything, but I never really crossed the line being like: 'Yeah, I did a clean lap'.
"There were always some parts on the track where I knew there was lap time, but I never really was able to put it together. Even if I improved a little bit, then I'd probably lose a bit in the next corner.
Source: Autosport