Daniel Ricciardo says an engine issue was the reason he was unable to qualify ahead of Red Bull teammate and closer to the Ferrari drivers in Japan.
Ricciardo had to settle for sixth at Suzuka, 0.06s behind his teammate in a session which saw Ferrari and Red Bull split by just three tenths of a second. Ricciardo says a lack of power in his engine, which he first noticed during his win in Malaysia last week, was costing him speed in a straight line.
"Personally I was down [on power] on the straights," he explained. "I was losing straight line speed. It is not the first time, but there were signs of it last week. It had a bigger effect this week.
"It was just a bit frustrating. I felt I did all I could with the car in quali, but it looked like we lost a good little chunk, as least down the straights. I don't think it was enough to say we'd be ahead of Kimi, but it would have put us a lot closer to Seb."
When asked if it was a team issue or just for him, he replied: "Individual. Not intentional of course, but comparing my car to Max's, even in qualifying you see the overlays, and I saw it this morning and was asking why I am still losing time on the straights? So that just stayed throughout qualifying.
"Normally you don't see a deg in the engines, they sort of hold pretty well for the life they are supposed to do ... But it has sort of been there a few times this year. It is what it is."
Ricciardo revealed it is not the first time this year he has felt disadvantaged by a TAG-Heuer (Renault) engine at the latter stages of its life span.
"There have been times were I seem to be down as well on straights. We don't always get an answer.
"It is sometimes just luck of the draw, even like fuel flow meters, you get good ones, you get bad ones. It has been a while since I have actually had more speed, but I just want the same, that is all. We all want the same for both of us, but it is just a bit frustrating. When quali is that close..."
Ricciardo will climb one place to fifth for the grand prix once Sebastian Vettel serves the three-place grid penalty he incurred at the Malaysian Grand Prix.