RB Team Principal Laurent Mekies rued the “good steps” Daniel Ricciardo has made going to waste with an unavoidable incident in Formula 1’s Chinese Grand Prix.
Ricciardo was running in ninth position under the Safety Car when he picked up substantial floor damage as Lance Stroll ploughed into his rear at the Turn 14 hairpin.
Stroll would be penalised with a 10-second time drop, but that proved to form little consolation for the Australian as he plummeted through the order and then retired.
Meanwhile, Yuki Tsunoda’s prospects were ended upon the restart as Haas’ Kevin Magnussen tagged his rear wheel on the exit of Turn 5 and pitched him into a spin.
Mekies believes that both rival drivers could have prevented those encounters from transpiring and hopes that such incidences won’t become a common occurrence.
Asked to assess whether the clashes emanated from a tight midfield pack, Mekies told Autosport: “I don’t know really, but I think both looked unnecessary.
“It’s not like those where you see how it’s always going to end up in a crash. No, both looked quite unnecessary. So I would like to hope that they are one-offs in an otherwise intense battle.”
With Nico Hulkenberg capitalising to steal the final point to aid Haas’ endeavours in the Constructors’ standings, Mekies lamented RB being denied the chance to fight.
“It’s a big opportunity lost,” Mekies added. “We got both our cars taken out by competitors in one lap, so obviously it’s a big missed opportunity.
“We feel we were fighting for that one point in the group with the usual guys, and it would have been a nice and tight battle.
“Just before the Safety Car, Daniel was effectively attacking Lewis [Hamilton].
“So you know, we were on a strong pace and we had the right tyres. We feel it could have been a fair battle with Nico for that [10th] position.”
However, Mekies took positives in RB rebounding from a tough start to the weekend and also Ricciardo’s improved outing from his own challenging beginning to 2024.
“But it is what it is. It’s racing. It didn’t go our way,” he continued.
“But what is reassuring is A, we had the pace here again to fight for that point, even though we started a bit on the back foot on Friday. But certainly, the race pace was there.
“And B, it is nice to see Daniel performing at this level, he has been making good steps forward in the background.”
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