Ricciardo rues ‘the last thing you want to do’ in Turkey
Monday, 16 November 2020
A frustrating race in difficult conditions.
Daniel Ricciardo had a frustrating race in difficult conditions at the Turkish Grand Prix, the Australian scoring just a single point in Istanbul on Sunday.
Ricciardo, on a roll after two podiums in his past three races, looked set to again challenge for the rostrum after starting from fifth on the grid.
But the Aussie, who tagged his Renault teammate Esteban Ocon on the opening lap, struggled for grip on intermediate tyres at the Istanbul Park circuit.
Ricciardo crossed the line in 10th place, followed by Ocon in P11.
“We made a great start today, but I was squashed in between Lewis (Hamilton) and Esteban into Turn 1, so I had nowhere to go and I clipped my teammate which is the last thing you want to do,” said Ricciardo.
“We lost a couple of positions from the incident and then when we switched to the intermediate tyres and we just couldn’t make them last.
“There were moments during the race when I was told I was one of the fastest out there, then just a few laps later my tyres were completely gone so it was all a bit of a lottery.”
🇦🇺 @danielricciardo salvages a point out of a tricky #TurkishGP race. The Aussie could not find the optimum grip in the wet conditions 💦 #F1 pic.twitter.com/9AyK2Mq4bO
— F1 Australian Grand Prix (@ausgrandprix) November 15, 2020
The Turkish Grand Prix was won by Hamilton (Mercedes), who sealed his seventh Formula 1® title, ahead of Sergio Perez (Racing Point) and Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari).
Ricciardo was full of praise for Hamilton, saying: “A big congratulations to Lewis for wrapping up his seventh drivers’ championship and to do it in such a dominant fashion today is very impressive.”
Ricciardo will have a weekend off before the first of two consecutive F1® races to be held in Bahrain, the first scheduled for 29 November.
