RB’s hopes of finishing in the points in Shanghai were dashed in a few dramatic moments during Sunday’s race after Ricciardo was hit from behind by Lance Stroll behind the safety car, while Tsunoda was involved in a clash of end of the race with Kevin Magnussen on the restart.
Neither driver was able to finish the race and RB team principal Laurent Mekies felt that the two incidents against his drivers could have easily been avoided by their rivals, who were subsequently penalized for their part in accidents.
Asked by Autosport whether the crashes were clumsy or a consequence of the frantic midfield struggle, Mekies replied: “I don’t really know, but I think both seemed unnecessary.
“It’s not like those where you see that it’s always going to end in an accident. No, both seemed completely unnecessary. So I would like to hope that they are punctual in an otherwise intense battle.
Mekies felt the incidents had deprived his team of another points tally, especially as Ricciardo had produced what, until his race exit, appeared to be his best weekend of the season so far. now.
“It’s a big lost opportunity,” Mekies added. “Both of our cars were taken out by competitors in one lap, so it’s obviously a big missed opportunity.
“We feel like we were fighting for this point in the group with the usual guys, and it would have been a nice, close battle.
Daniel Ricciardo, RB F1 Team VCARB 01
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
“Just before the safety car, Daniel actually attacked Lewis [Hamilton]. You know, we had a good pace and we had the right tires. We think it could have been a fair fight with Nico. [Hulkenberg] for this job.
” But it’s like that. It’s the race. It didn’t go our way. But what is reassuring is A, we still had the pace here to fight for this point, even if we started a little behind on Friday. But certainly, the race pace was there.
“And B, it’s nice to see Daniel playing at this level, he’s made good progress in the backline.”
Ricciardo spoke out against Stroll after the race for the unnecessary way the Aston Martin driver hit his back, while Tsunoda expressed annoyance at the way Magnussen hit him.
“I think I’m quite frustrated with the way I finished, especially since I gave him a lot of space and it ended in a DNF,” the Japanese said. “So yeah, it’s quite frustrating. I’m very bored.
Watch: F1 Chinese Grand Prix 2024 Review – Verstappen Dominates
RB’s hopes of finishing in the points in Shanghai were dashed in a few dramatic moments during Sunday’s race after Ricciardo was hit from behind by Lance Stroll behind the safety car, while Tsunoda was involved in a clash of end of the race with Kevin Magnussen on the restart.
Neither driver was able to finish the race and RB team principal Laurent Mekies felt that the two incidents against his drivers could have easily been avoided by their rivals, who were subsequently penalized for their part in accidents.
Asked by Autosport whether the crashes were clumsy or a consequence of the frantic midfield struggle, Mekies replied: “I don’t really know, but I think both seemed unnecessary.
“It’s not like those where you see that it’s always going to end in an accident. No, both seemed completely unnecessary. So I would like to hope that they are punctual in an otherwise intense battle.
Mekies felt the incidents had deprived his team of another points tally, especially as Ricciardo had produced what, until his race exit, appeared to be his best weekend of the season so far. now.
“It’s a big lost opportunity,” Mekies added. “Both of our cars were taken out by competitors in one lap, so it’s obviously a big missed opportunity.
“We feel like we were fighting for this point in the group with the usual guys, and it would have been a nice, close battle.
Daniel Ricciardo, RB F1 Team VCARB 01
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
“Just before the safety car, Daniel actually attacked Lewis [Hamilton]. You know, we had a good pace and we had the right tires. We think it could have been a fair fight with Nico. [Hulkenberg] for this job.
” But it’s like that. It’s the race. It didn’t go our way. But what is reassuring is A, we still had the pace here to fight for this point, even if we started a little behind on Friday. But certainly, the race pace was there.
“And B, it’s nice to see Daniel playing at this level, he’s made good progress in the backline.”
Ricciardo spoke out against Stroll after the race for the unnecessary way the Aston Martin driver hit his back, while Tsunoda expressed annoyance at the way Magnussen hit him.
“I think I’m quite frustrated with the way I finished, especially since I gave him a lot of space and it ended in a DNF,” the Japanese said. “So yeah, it’s quite frustrating. I’m very bored.
Watch: F1 Chinese Grand Prix 2024 Review – Verstappen Dominates