Ricciardo “angry” after RB “f***ed up” Hungary strategy

An “angry” Daniel Ricciardo lamented a missed opportunity after his RB Formula 1 team “f***ed up” his race strategy at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Ricciardo ran in front of team-mate Yuki Tsunoda during a very short opening stint on medium tyres, but was stuck behind Alex Albon and Kevin Magnussen.

The Williams and the Haas pitted on lap 6 before RB called Ricciardo in at the end of the next tour, with the Australian spending his second stint behind the same cars as a consequence.

Then lagging more than 20 seconds behind Tsunoda, Ricciardo pitted again on lap 28 – one lap before the Japanese driver even had his first and only tyre change of the race.

Ricciardo went on to finish just 12th, 25 seconds off his team-mate, who scored important points in ninth. In a context where his future is at stake, the veteran did not conceal his frustration with the way the contest played out.

Asked if he was a bit disappointed, Ricciardo sighed: “Massively. Why they pitted me when they did at the beginning was…

“Two cars jumped us at the start with a soft tyre. That’s fine. Let them go. They pit, and we follow them, to then just be on their strategy.

Daniel Ricciardo, RB F1 Team VCARB 01

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

“They’ve just come in, we have a clear track, and we decide to pit behind them and put ourselves in a DRS train. And it’s like, then on the same tyre, all on a hard, so…”

The RB driver clarified that he “didn’t have time” to question his engineers’ strategy decision.

“It’s a late call, ‘box box box’ and you pit,” he recounted. “But honestly, as soon as I’m pulling in the pits, I’m questioning. But you can’t [debate it so late]. You know, you get called in Turn 13, and you have to react.”

Ricciardo never ran in the top 10 subsequently, spending some time in 11th from laps 46 to 54 before Lance Stroll overtook him – the Aston Martin driver was enjoying much fresher rubber, having made his second pitstop 17 laps later than his opponent.

“Then, Stroll’s catching me a second a lap and maybe more, and they’re saying, you know, it’s really important to keep him behind, and what do you want me to do?” Ricciardo pondered.

“You’ve pitted me so early, I’m on older tyres.

“I’m also being expected to fight when we’re not really in a fight anymore. So that was also frustrating. There were times where I just felt like we… the bed was made.”

Ranking this race among the most frustrating of his career, Ricciardo saw his…