Daniel Ricciardo didn’t want the disappointment of his second retirement of the season on his birthday to overshadow what he called a “perfect day” for Red Bull at the Austrian GP.
The Australian was enjoying a strong race in Spielberg, moving ahead of Kimi Raikkonen shortly after pitting and creating hopes for a team 1-2, ultimately, tyre blisters and a broken exhaust would be his downfall, retiring with just over 10 laps to go.
As the team celebrated a great victory for teammate Max Verstappen, however, the now 29-year-old insisted he didn’t want to be the party pooper.
“I’m obviously disappointed with how the day went but there’s no point being upset,” Ricciardo told Channel 4. “I know what I signed up for with this sport as a kid and sometimes it does this. Things happen out of your control, it is what it is.
“I don’t want to stand here and talk about my sob story and how my birthday didn’t go well. For Red Bull, the team, everyone here, it’s the perfect day.”
“I’m happy for Red Bull,” he declared. “The team, the brand, the people and happy for Max who has so many fans here.
“I saw [Red Bull owner] Mr Mateschitz earlier and I can imagine what he is feeling right now.
“It’s not my day, but from the team’s point of view, for the Austrians and for Max, it’s a big day for them. So I’m happy that some part of the team will be celebrating today.”
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Team boss Christian Horner revealed Ricciardo’s failure did lead to Verstappen’s engine also being turned down and, despite his happiness for the 20-year-old, did have some sympathy for the ‘Honey Badger’.
“From my perspective, I’m looking at 43 points, that’s our objective and we lost 18 today,” he also told the British broadcaster. “It was gutting because its not just the one race, it’s the championship as well.
“Those 18 points, on a day where both Mercedes retire, that’s points given away.”
