Daniel Ricciardo said he has spoken to his team about the strategy decision which potentially cost him victory in the Spanish Grand Prix.
The Red Bull driver led team mate Max Verstappen in the opening stages of the Spanish Grand Prix but fell to fourth after a switch to a three-stop strategy. Verstappen, who pitted just twice, won the race.
Ricciardo said Red Bull put him on the strategy which seemed the best solution at the time.
“We had a few discussions after the race and the week afterwards as well I spent quite a bit of time with the team,” he told reporters in Monaco. “Just basically it seems at the time, through their eyes, the three-stop was the best thing.”
“It looked like [Sebastian] Vettel was our biggest challenger, I guess, for the victory so once we had the gap to fit the three-stop in they pitted me and I think then Vettel pitted the lap later.”
However Vettel returned to the pits just eight laps later which both got him in front of Ricciardo and doomed the Red Bull driver to being stuck behind a car with only slightly older tyres.
“It was then that second-last stint when he went really short and undercut me and that sort of screwed it all up because then he didn’t have the speed to catch the leaders either,” said Ricciardo.
“So it all sort of just unfolded on itself in not a good way for us. But at the time that was their thinking and they thought the three-stop was the one. And they didn’t really think Max or Kimi [Raikkonen] could make the two-stop work.”
Ricciardo added the team expected a grater performance difference at the end of the race between those who had pitted twice and three times.
“As the race goes on, the track does improve a bit and you burn fuel so the car does handle a bit better,” he said. “So the last stint you can probably always go longer than you think you can but still they didn’t think it would go for that long, or they thought we’d have a bigger speed advantage at the end to pass them.”
2016 Spanish Grand Prix
- 2016 Monaco and Spanish Grands Prix team radio transcripts
- Vettel’s strategy “screwed” my race in Spain – Ricciardo
- Ricciardo still coming to terms with losing Spain win
- F1 Fanatic presents new podcast Motorsport Extra
- Landslide Driver of the Weekend win for Verstappen
ruliemaulana (@ruliemaulana)
25th May 2016, 23:06
Daniel only repeating what his team has been told him on why three stop was thought to be better strategy.
He never said that he believe that its true nor said that he can make two stop work too.
Maybe two stopper only turn out to be better strategy because of safety car in the early laps.
Stephen Crowsen (@drycrust)
25th May 2016, 23:40
“Ricciardo said Red Bull put him on the strategy which seemed the best solution at the time.”
Yes, that is a basic problem with transportation, you don’t know what is down the road or around the next corner. One can argue that every decision could be a wrong decision, even one that ends up with a favourable result. In this case someone decided to change a two stop strategy to a 3 stop strategy, and now we have another person arguing it was the wrong decision.
Red Bull walked away from the race with 37 Constructors points, which was more than Ferrari (33), and that has to be a good result.
ia
26th May 2016, 1:31
I don’t get Ricciardo’s complaining: Max said on a dutch TV interview that he and Daniel both were on a 2-stop strategy for the race. That they gave Daniel the 3-stop because his tires were wearing of faster then his tires.
So Daniel: take better care of your tires then Max and they will give you the chance to complete 32 rounds on the mediums.
duncan idaho
26th May 2016, 2:08
Rinse, repeat… still not right.
juan fanger (@juan-fanger)
26th May 2016, 9:45
Is that what they told Max? It’s different to what they told Dan.
Or is that just what Max thought happened?
David (@ringridder)
26th May 2016, 5:53
Irrelevant due to his puncture. His puncture would have cost him victory!
Matthijs (@matthijs)
26th May 2016, 7:19
1. Three stops seemed the best strategy at the time, so Ricciardo was put on the best strategy beforehand, not Verstappen.
2. To beat Verstappen in qualifying he added more front wing (confirmed), causing more tyre wear (unconfirmed). He wouldn’t have made it with a 2 stop (unconfirmed).
Can we just leave it?
krxx
1st June 2016, 13:58
It doesn’t occur to you that RB easily could have switched back to less FW during the race.. confirm please.
marcusbreese (@marcusbreese)
26th May 2016, 7:26
By bringing Vettel in after just 8 laps, Ferrari guaranteed that Vettel would beat Ricciardo but also made both their chances of a win significantly less likely.
Ricciardo probably needs to give it up though and show a bit more grace in defeat, I don’t remember Vettel moaning quite this much when Ricciardo pinched his three fortunate victories in 2014.
Meander (@meander)
26th May 2016, 7:56
I’m pretty sure the problem is that people keep asking him about it. There’s no way RIC has been searching for journalists just to keep sharing his story.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
26th May 2016, 8:32
@marcusbreese
Nothing about his attitude since the race has struck me as ungracious.
MattDS (@mattds)
26th May 2016, 8:35
@marcusbreese I don’t think Ricciardo has handled this badly. In an interview I read just yesterday or the day before he even was very, very magnanimous towards Verstappen. What he says above is all measured and correct.
It is true that Ferrari basically cost both Vettel AND Ricciardo any shot at the win with that stupidly short third stint. Vettel’s tyres were only 3 laps longer than Raikkonen’s so the chances of him making up a gap that large and then pass the both of Raikkonen and Verstappen were slim at best.
It did assure Vettel had won the battle with Ricciardo though. And if the twostoppers had ran out of tyres 2 or 3 laps before the end, he would have been there to pick up the win.
MattDS (@mattds)
26th May 2016, 8:36
“3 laps longer” should have read “3 laps newer”, of course.
Atticus (@atticus-2)
26th May 2016, 8:58
He has a point. A very good point actually. I thought the same in the aftermath.
drmouse (@drmouse)
26th May 2016, 9:44
Unusual unit to measure performance difference there, the “grater”. Maybe it means they expected the two-stoppers tyres to be behaving as if someone took a cheese grater to them? LOL
* END FACETIOUS COMMENT *
@keithcollantine Greater? :)
Traverse
26th May 2016, 16:02
Trust a mouse to have cheese on the brain. :)
ruliemaulana (@ruliemaulana)
26th May 2016, 17:21
Well, mouse with doctoral degree.. Why not?