Daniel Ricciardo believes Red Bull’s three-stop pit strategy in the Spanish Grand Prix was the “wrong thing to do”.
The Australian driver led the opening part of the race after the two Mercedes drivers crashed out of the race on lap one. Red Bull split their strategies, with Max Verstappen on a two-stop and Ricciardo pitting three times.
However, after his third stop, he fell to fourth and struggled to get past Sebastian Vettel. He then picked up a puncture, which dropped him out of contention for a podium, as his team-mate Verstappen claimed his maiden victory.
“Mixed emotions today, for sure,” Ricciardo said. “Some of it was just bad luck today, I was leading and then went on a three stop strategy, which meant I had to try and pass three cars on track, which isn’t easy.
“Seb [Vettel] had already jumped us on the pit stop, which resulted in more overtakes to get back to the front. In hindsight, a three stop strategy was the wrong thing to do, but maybe during the race it seemed like the right thing to the team.
“I wasn’t content sitting in fourth so I tried to pass Vettel, I had a crack, but it didn’t work out. It really sucks to not even be on the podium and then the puncture at the end just rubs salt in the wound.
“It’s a big day for Max with his first race win, so congratulations to him. He got the job done, everyone questioned the decision during the week but he has proven today that he is a top class driver. It’s not hard for me to see Max on the podium, it’s just hard not to be there myself.”
