Ricciardo: Lap 1 front wing damage shaped ‘lonely’ race

Daniel Ricciardo feels damaged sustained to his front wing on the opening lap shaped his Russian Grand Prix on Sunday as the Red Bull Formula 1 driver finished a “lonely” sixth in Sochi.

Ricciardo started the race in 18th position ahead of teammate Max Verstappen after both Red Bull drivers took grid penalties for power unit and gearbox changes.

Ricciardo: Lap 1 front wing damage shaped ‘lonely’ race

Daniel Ricciardo feels damaged sustained to his front wing on the opening lap shaped his Russian Grand Prix on Sunday as the Red Bull Formula 1 driver finished a “lonely” sixth in Sochi.

Ricciardo started the race in 18th position ahead of teammate Max Verstappen after both Red Bull drivers took grid penalties for power unit and gearbox changes.

Remote video URL

While Verstappen was able to charge through the field to run fifth - where he would ultimately finish - by Lap 8, Ricciardo had a more difficult afternoon as he finished 50 seconds behind his teammate in sixth place.

Ricciardo explained after the race how his afternoon was largely defined by a messy first lap that saw him strike some debris, damaging his Red Bull RB14’s front wing, which was changed at his pit stop on Lap 39.

“I just lost out on the first lap. To be honest I can’t really remember what happened,” Ricciardo said.

“I wasn’t really ahead of where I started by Turn 10, and then I think I had a slipstream from I think a McLaren, and as soon as I pulled out, there was some debris in front of me and I hit that. I didn’t have time to see it or react.

“The first lap wasn’t going that great, and then it took that and broke the front wing. That was a kind of double whammy on the first lap that really shaped the race. A bit lonely at the end.

“Hitting the debris, I couldn’t avoid because I didn’t see it until I hit it. The first part of that first lap, I’m going to watch some replays and try to see if I can pick up a few things or if it was just circumstances which kept me not advancing. I’d like to think there’s room for improvement.”

With Red Bull seemingly marooned as the third-fastest team in the pecking order, Ricciardo admitted he was concerned he could be in for another lonely race at Suzuka next weekend given Mercedes’ advantage at the front of the pack.

“It’s possible [it will be lonely] because it’s a tough track to overtake. I don’t want this to sound too negative, but it could be what you qualify is what you finish,” he said.

“But if it’s a lonely podium, we’ll probably take that at the moment. We’ll see. Mercedes look really strong. I think they’ve now shown pace on all circuits.

“I don’t know if they’ve brought an update recently, but they seem to be the car to beat on any layout at the moment. I think they’ll be tough to beat at Suzuka.

“But hopefully the Ferrari, we can have a bit of a fight."

Read More