Daniel Ricciardo has suggested that Renault was unnecessarily cautious in the wake of “underachieving” at Formula 1’s Spanish Grand Prix.
Renault has endured a problematic start to the 2019 season and failed to reach the top 10 in Spain, with Ricciardo classifying in 12th position.
Ricciardo ran Soft tyres from the first stint but then took on Hard rubber thereafter, a decision he felt cost him pace and contributed to missing out on points.
“I’m frustrated to be honest,” said Ricciardo.
“I see Carlos [Sainz Jr.] in eighth and we had him at the end of the first stint and then we fitted a Hard, he fitted a Medium, he passed us that out lap. I think we had his pace.
“I think to be honest we underachieved the result the car was capable of and with this midfield it’s so tight.
“There was a lack of perfection and we missed potentially four points, so we’ve got to try and do better I guess, try and figure out what we can execute, and understand why we fitted the Hard and not the Medium and if that was us being too cautious… let’s not be cautious.”
The result means Ricciardo has taken just one points finish from his opening five events as a Renault driver.
“For sure we don’t want to be fighting for that last point,” he said.
“We were good enough for that eighth place. It is frustrating not to execute it, so it is definitely not a 12th place car, but that midfield is tight.
“We got to do better and I’ll give the team my perspective but try to focus on the positives as well and keep everyone’s spirits up.”
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