“This is the place to do it, so I’m very happy to be here for the race this weekend”.
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“I’m over it now”, Ricciardo told SSNHQ.
“I wouldn’t say same level yet, because it is hard to say at this stage”. He would still have got a podium in his first race with the team, so I think whichever way the race went, Max was always getting a good result.
“Deep down I knew it was all with the right intentions and it just didn’t work”.
“It was one of those things, as I said I was massively frustrated, but I didn’t think that any of it was intentional”.
“To be honest I didn’t expect that, so I didn’t do any special preparation”.
“At the time they thought the three-stop [pit strategy] was the one to do and [Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel] they thought was the biggest challenge to the victory, so they were just trying to cover him with me and they didn’t think Max or [Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen] could last with the two stops”.
“You can’t really feel the power – whether it’s 900 or 920, 930, it’s still a lot of power – that’s something you see in the data and the lap-time, but one of the concerns with this new engine and introducing it at Monaco is the driveability and, actually, the driveability is better”.
While the decision to favour Kevin Magnussen at Renault makes sense, there was widespread speculation as to whether Daniel Ricciardo or Max Verstappen would be favoured at Red Bull.
Both Ricciardo and Verstappen tested the power unit last week and were upbeat about its potential.
“It was pretty much the guy leading the championship [who] would have got that”, he said.
“Then with Max – as well, probably”.
That said, Monaco is not as demanding on the engine at Monaco as most circuits, and by the time the F1 circus gets to the next race, Canada which is demanding, Renault should be able to supply all four drivers with units. “That is pretty much that”.
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Verstappen will to have to wait until Montreal to get his engine, which Renault boss Remi Taffin claims is more powerful, driveable and efficient.
