Red Bull
Daniel Ricciardo
“The first 10 to 15 laps were really hard on the Medium tyre and they were a handful. I think the race would have come to us but on the first few laps I needed to be really patient and pick cars off one by one. Once I got into clean air I was able to do some low eighteens which seemed competitive at the time but we didn’t really get a chance to see what we could do today. We could have gone long on the Medium tyre and I think the strategy would have worked for us towards the end. On lap 29 I heard something strange when I was downshifting for Turn 6 and then once I accelerated out of the corner I lost power and the engine started to sound pretty sick. I got on the radio straight away and expected the team to ask me to pull over, which they did. I don’t know the specifics but it was some sort of engine failure which is obviously pretty frustrating after taking the penalties today. Anyway, would have, could have, that’s racing and I feel like I have been in this position too often this season. It hurts, it always does. I may not remember this race but I will remember the crowd, they all showed up today which was really nice to see and I guess they know it may be the last time we come here for a while, it’s been a good show for them, but not for me. Hopefully I can go and win in a week’s time before we all head off for the summer break.”
Max Verstappen
“After such a chaotic race I think finishing fourth is a good result and the car felt strong throughout the race. It was a hard day for decision making due to the late changes in the weather. I had a small slide at Turn 6 when it first started to rain so I decided to pit for Intermediates. As soon as I came out of the pits and got to Turn 6 it was dry again. I knew it was not going to work, it could have done but unfortunately it didn’t continue raining enough. Sometimes these decisions work for you, sometimes not as we experienced today. The safety car meant it didn’t impact the result but it was worth trying at the time. The heavy rain came a fraction too late in the day, perhaps we could have done more but instead we had to settle for dryer conditions. We should be in better shape to get a good result in Hungary so I’m already looking forward to next weekend.”
Christian Horner, team principal
“Max had a good start and was able to challenge Kimi on the opening laps. Things quickly settled down as the tyres were going to be a crucial factor in the overall race strategy. Meanwhile, Daniel was making good progress from the back of the grid after incurring his engine penalties. At that point, there was a threat of rain but it was difficult to predict exactly when it would come. Unfortunately, on lap 29 Daniel’s engine failed, which is particularly disappointing alongside the penalties that he had already incurred. Max was on a one stop strategy running in P4, it started to rain and with a couple of cars running wide, including Max, we decided to take a gamble and pit him for the Intermediate tyre. Unfortunately, it didn’t rain enough and the inter tyre got burnt up so Max had to pit again for the Soft tyre. From the position we were in with no threat from behind, the gamble was worth taking but it didn’t pay off this time.The Safety Car then bunched the field up meaning that Max crossed the line in fourth which is about where we were on pace today.”
