Red Bull team boss Christian Horner expects Daniel Ricciardo will be “having a word” with Renault after retiring just eight laps into the United States Grand Prix.
The Australian had maintained his fourth place at the start despite a small coming together with Sebastian Vettel on Lap 1, resulting in the German spinning down the order.
But it would come to nothing as his car simply shut down exiting Turn 11 coming onto the back straight.
“It’s just a crying shame for Daniel, I feel so sorry for him,” Horner told Sky Sports.
“It’s an identical power unit issue that he had in Bahrain where it’s just gone to a complete shutdown and you can see it mid-corner.
“He was driving a strong Grand Prix and would have been right there too, so really just so frustrating for him.”
Given the pace of his teammate Max Verstappen to finish second, it is true Ricciardo, who has embraced all things Austin throughout the week, would have been in the fight for the win at the end.
Instead… “He’s just taken his frustration out in his room by putting his fist through the wall, which you can totally relate to,” Horner said.
“He doesn’t blame the team in any way. He knows we’re doing everything we can, it’s just one of those things.”
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Given the constant engine reliability problems that have caused five of his seven retirements, the Red Bull chief does think Ricciardo will be having some thoughts over his decision for 2019.
“Hopefully we’ve got enough components in the pool for him not to have to take a penalty so I’m sure he’ll be having a word with his future employers [Renault] about it because it’s just so frustrating to keep losing him from races at the moment,” he stated.
“He would have been equally strong in the second half of the race, so I just feel very, very sorry for him.”