'A shame': Daniel Ricciardo burned by McLaren strategy call
Australian F1 ace Daniel Ricciardo was keen to move on from a mediocre weekend at the Dutch Grand Prix after narrowly missing a points finish.
Ricciardo came home in 11th place after starting 10th, with a team order from McLaren to let teammate Lando Norris past late in the race leaving the Aussie star slightly perplexed.
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Norris had started the race 13th after an unlucky result in qualifying, with McLaren ordering Ricciardo to let him past on lap 45 following the Brit's pitstop.
The team was aiming to catch the Alpine duo of Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso, with the French manufacturer's recent run of impressive results posing a threat to McLaren's standing in the constructors' championship.
With Norris equipped with a fresh set of faster soft tyres, Ricciardo was ordered to let him past in order to salvage the maximum possible points for the team.
“We would like to swap positions please, Lando on newer tires, we’re both going to go, and get the Alpines together,” was the call from McLaren's pit box to Ricciardo.
However Norris was unable to put any pressure on Ocon after catching him, and soon fell prey to the resurgent Sergio Perez, who was mounting his own impressive recovery in the Red Bull.
With the swap effectively costing Ricciardo a points finish, he had a somewhat terse message for his engineers after the race had ended, after they praised him for his move to allow Norris past and holding up Perez.
“Yeah, I’ll give feedback after,” he said, after being told Perez had managed to get past Norris.
After being told his pace on older tyres had matched that of his teammate in the latter stage of the race, Ricciardo seemed keen to focus on next weekend's Italian GP, adding only 'Alright...Monza."
Daniel Ricciardo unhappy with McLaren pace during Dutch GP
Speaking to media after the race, Ricciardo said difficulties with the setup had him of the belief that a low points finish was likely the best result on offer for the team.
Ricciardo also said he didn't think the team strategy between himself and Norris was well executed by McLaren.
“I don’t ultimately think we had massive pace, so I think that was the reality,” Ricciardo said in an interview for the official F1 website.
“I think, at best, maybe we were getting one point today.
“But we tried a little bit of a, let’s say, teamwork strategy to help out Lando, but I don’t think we executed it very well.
“Obviously it’s something we talked about and the team have good oversight on (the) pit wall, so if they see an opportunity to maximise points for the team you have to go for it and trust their view.
“So we’ll see tonight. My feeling was it wasn’t executed perfectly, but in saying that, I don’t know. I don’t think we could have done much better."
Max Verstappen has made light of the burden of expectation to become the first Dutch driver to win his home Formula One grand prix.
The 23-year-old Red Bull driver triggered chaotic scenes in a 70,000-strong crowd already in full party mode after starting on pole position and taking the chequered flag.
He re-claimed the championship lead with the victory, earning a three point buffer over seven-time world champ Lewis Hamilton who came second on Sunday.
The revival of the Dutch GP at Zandvoort in 2021 after a 36-year absence owed everything to Verstappen's surging popularity and success, the Dutchman the first championship contender the country has produced.
With AAP
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