Ricciardo left to rue lack of pace
DANIEL Ricciardo again rued his Red Bull’s lack of pace after finishing as runner- up for the third straight time at Marina Bay in yesterday’s incidentpacked Singapore Grand Prix.
It was the Australian’s fourth podium there in a row, falling to championship leader Lewis Hamilton, with the Briton’s Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas third.
Ricciardo qualified third ahead of fifth- starter Hamilton, who took the lead on the opening lap when pole- sitter Sebastian Vettel took out Max Verstappen and Kimi Raikkonen in a first- corner crash.
Ricciardo vented his frustration on the podium after not having the race- day pace to match Hamilton.
“I can’t win the bloody thing. I’m trying, I’m trying,” Ricciardo lamented.
“Today we didn’t have the Friday pace we showed in practice and I’m a little bit disappointed to miss out on a win but have to be happy to get another podium.
“We struggled to look after the tyres and it felt like when I could punch out a good lap time, I couldn’t really maintain it, whereas Lewis could answer and answer again. So it felt like every time we tried to match his pace it would take more out of ( my) tyres.”
It’s a common theme for the 28- year- old, who believes he’d challenge Hamilton and second- ranked Vettell of Ferrari in the championship race if he had a faster car.
After the race, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner revealed Ricciardo also had a gearbox issue.
Vettell lost ground on Hamilton in the championship standings due to the early incident which caused race- ending damage to Fernando Alonso’s McLaren.