Horner praises Renault for delivering 'competitive' engine

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As much as Red Bull has laid the blame on engine partner Renault for its past failures, team boss Christian Horner underlined the performance achieved by the manufacturer in Mexico City's demanding environment.

Daniel Ricciardo were in a league of their own in qualifying while the Dutchman ran away with the race on Sunday, powered by an engine perfectly tuned to the venue's high altitude challenging conditions, and complemented by an equally well set-up RB14 chassis.

"Credit where credit's due," said Horner after Sunday's race.

"Renault have provided us with an engine this weekend in these conditions that is competitive with our opponents.

Thwarted Ricciardo: 'I'm done with it, let Gasly drive it!'

"That's enabled us to go head-to-head, lock out the front row of the grid and win the grand prix in a dominant fashion. Theoretically we should have had a one-two here.

"The altitude of this circuit does constrain some of our rivals and it puts Renault into a window where they are competitive.

"Which is why we put an awful lot of focus into this race in taking the penalties [at the Russian GP] to get another B-Spec into the pool, to have for this weekend."

Obviously, Ricciardo's retirement ten laps from the checkered flag took a bit lustre off the team's overall performance.

"He had a bad start, but that was nothing technical, just procedure," said Red Bull motorsport boss Helmut Marko.

"And then the clutch bearing broke, which is a shame. It's very frustrating because a one-two would have been very nice."

Understandably dejected by his state of affairs and by his eight retirement of the season, Ricciardo said - in the heat of the moment - that "he was done, the car's cursed."

Horner was full of sympathy for the Aussie, although he had yet to convey his feelings directly to his driver.
"You can understand his frustration, and hope that this dark cloud that is following him around lifts for the final two races," said the Brit.

"He wanted to get out of the circuit pretty quickly as you can imagine, so we’ll speak a bit later when things have calmed down."

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Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.