Daniel Ricciardo believes his power unit failure in the German Grand Prix denied him an opportunity of a solid result at Hockenheim after his RB14 broke down on lap 29.
The Australian started on the White-marked Medium tyre in order to run long into the race with the threat of rain growing as the race unfolded, however, they proved tricky to warm up in the cooler conditions and struggled in the early stages to get heat into the Pirelli rubber.
GERMAN GRAND PRIX: Photo gallery | Championship standing
Having begun to make his way through the pack after starting from 19th due to having some power unit elements changed before qualifying, the Red Bull driver was eventually forced to park his car on the exit of Turn 11 after another failure from the Renault power unit.
"The first 10 to 15 laps were really hard on the Medium tyre and they were a handful, said Ricciardo. "I think the race would have come to us but on the first few laps I needed to be really patient and pick cars off one by one.
"Once I got into clean air I was able to do some low eighteens which seemed competitive at the time but we didn’t really get a chance to see what we could do today. We could have gone long on the Medium tyre and I think the strategy would have worked for us towards the end.
"On lap 29 I heard something strange when I was downshifting for Turn 6 and then once I accelerated out of the corner I lost power and the engine started to sound pretty sick. I got on the radio straight away and expected the team to ask me to pull over, which they did.
"I don’t know the specifics but it was some sort of engine failure which is obviously pretty frustrating after taking the penalties today.
"Anyway, would have, could have, that’s racing and I feel like I have been in this position too often this season. It hurts, it always does. I may not remember this race but I will remember the crowd, they all showed up today which was really nice to see and I guess they know it may be the last time we come here for a while, it’s been a good show for them, but not for me.
"Hopefully I can go and win in a week’s time before we all head off for the summer break."
Ricciardo now sits fifth in the Driver's championship on 106 points just one ahead of team-mate Max Verstappen.
