Formula 1: Daniel Ricciardo frustrated at Red Bull

Omnisports

May 31, 2016 7:28 AM

F1: Daniel Ricciardo believes his ability should have been "more rewarded" in his career after a Red Bull error cost win the win in Monaco.

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Following a pit-stop debacle that resulted in Daniel Ricciardo surrendering first place to Lewis Hamilton at the Monaco Grand Prix, the Australian is growing increasingly frustrated by the lack of accolades he has to show from his time in Formula One.

Ricciardo, who made his F1 debut for the now-defunct HRT in 2011, has won just three races during his career, all of which came in 2014.

The 26-year-old claimed his first pole position last weekend in Monaco, but was unable to see out the win when Red Bull failed to ready a change of tyres during a pit-stop, costing him valuable seconds and enabling Hamilton to top the podium.

With a third-place finish in the 2014 drivers' standings his best performance, Ricciardo is getting increasingly exasperated by his distance from the leading lights in F1.

"I've had my head held high all season," the Australian told Sky Sports News.

"Part of the frustrating thing is that I really do believe, and I've believed it for a long time - I don't want to say it because it's arrogant - but I believe a lot in my ability, let's just say that. And I should be getting more rewarded.

"I'm 27 very soon and I don't even have anything close to a world title and I believe I should have something like that very soon.

"Two weeks now, it could have been two wins and it's not. It's getting a little bit long in the tooth."

After Mercedes duo Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg crashed out in Spain, Ricciardo appeared to be on course to win.

However, a three-stop strategy saw him finish behind team-mate Max Verstappen, who benefitted from a two-stop plan to become the youngest driver to win a race in F1.

Verstappen followed that up by crashing in qualifying and then failing to finish in Monaco after hitting a barrier, and he felt Red Bull deserved better from him.

"The Monaco weekend was not great. It started off okay, but after having a crash in qualifying it went a bit downhill," said the Dutchman.

"Unfortunately when we fitted the soft tyres, I made a mistake and hit the wall. That is of course not how you want to end the weekend, especially if your team does a great job to rebuild your car after qualifying. They deserve much more.

"I learned a lot of things – of course to stay out of the wall first of all," he joked.

"And now we just analyse how and what went wrong and why we got into this situation. But it is all part of the learning curve and getting more experience."

Omnisports

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