Daniel Ricciardo insists he has no “regrets” for the attempted passes he made on Valtteri Bottas in the early laps of a United States GP that would ultimately end in disappointment for the Australian.
Starting fourth, the Red Bull driver looked to have the better pace compared to the Finn but once again the power deficit to the Mercedes engine would prove a major problem as Ricciardo couldn’t stay close enough to make a decisive pass.
In trying to make the move, the 28-year-old would damage his tyres, forcing him to pit earlier than most, though his pace afterwards suggested he would perform the undercut, he would never find out as an engine problem forced him to retire for the third time this season.
“It’s obviously never nice to be out of the race early but I think I tried to get the most out of it today and the laps I raced were fun but also frustrating,” Ricciardo commented.
“I felt that, especially earlier on, we were quicker than Valtteri, but I always had to come from so far back that it was never going to be an easy move. I tried a lot of times to make it stick but could never quite manage it.
“I wasn’t going to drive behind him all weekend wondering what could have been, so I don’t have any regrets with the moves I tried,” he added, having tried to use the wide approach to the Turn 1 hairpin to divebomb down the inside of the Mercedes.
“It’s just frustrating to not continue that battle. I did enjoy it out there though. Every time I tried to overtake Valtteri he would just slip back underneath me and I thought: alright let’s try again.”
It was thought Ricciardo could be in line for a grid penalty this weekend in Mexico as he takes on the upgraded Renault engine which teammate Max Verstappen used and therefore dropped to the back as a result in Austin.
Now, after the failure, the five-time F1 winner believes that is now a certainty although his Red Bull team boss Christian Horner is so quick to confirm it.
“I hope that the engine is salvageable,” he said after revealing a loss of oil had sent the engine into a safety mode. “It’s a great shame because he was hustling Valtteri very hard and very competitive at the beginning of the race. I think today we had a very competitive race car. Again, on a Sunday we look very competitive compared to a Saturday afternoon.
“The intention with Daniel, and still hopefully the intention, is not to have to take a penalty between now and the end of the season.”
