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Daniel Ricciardo insists that he gave maximum effort at Interlagos trying to come away with a podium finish. The Australian started the Grand Prix from eleventh place following a penalty he received for fitting a new turbocharger for the weekend.
Ricciardo extended his first stint on the super soft compound and put Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen under pressure during the final laps of the race. However, the Red Bull driver couldn't find a way past the Iceman and had to settle for fourth place.
"We had the pace but I don’t have any regrets,” Ricciardo said. “I don’t feel I lost a podium or the team lost it for me. We did everything we could. So, I am not upset about that. I just feel like every time we start out of position or at the back, we have a fast car. So it is just a bit of built up frustration. But the race was fun.
“They [Red Bull] left me out at the beginning and let me attack at the end but I’m not angry at anyone, just upset that we just missed the podium when we definitely had a car quick enough.”
Red Bull had surprisingly good pace during the race, with Ricciardo's teammate Max Verstappen in contention for the victory throughout. Ricciardo is aiming to bring the positivity to Abu Dhabi, which will be his last race for Red Bull before he departs for Renault.
"We had a surprisingly had a very fast car today,” he added. “I know we were better than fourth but anyway I get one more chance with the team to get up there. With the pace we had today I really have some optimism going to Abu Dhabi. I feel that is always a stronger track for us than this is.”
Grand Prix of Belgium
C. Sainz jr
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Replies (1)
Login to replyajpennypacker
Posts: 2,475
I think we'll get the full story next year, but something happened to Daniel this year. He's just been a bit of a shadow of himself since Monaco. It's not just the bad luck, but he's underperformed Max significantly. Maybe it was motivation, I don't know. But it's the first time since the Toro Rosso years that I haven't been impressed with Daniel. The fact that Max has been driving so well simply makes him look worse.