VCARB boss blames potential F1 exit for Ricciardo's fastest lap attempt
Red Bull Contentpool
F1 News
It looks increasingly likely that Daniel Ricciardo won't be a Formula 1 driver by the time the next Grand Prix rolls around in Austin. In a message to the press after the Singapore Grand Prix, Visa Cash App RB team boss Laurent Mekies stated that it may have been Ricciardo's last Grand Prix despite his late fastest lap effort.
Daniel Ricciardo's poor qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix meant that he started in P16. On the other hand, his teammate Yuki Tsunoda started from eighth. Mekies said that he was hoping for more opportunities for Ricciardo during the race.
Mekies: 'We really needed a safety car'
"Starting from further back, we really needed a Safety Car opportunity for Daniel to get back into the fight for points. Dan was on an aggressive strategy starting on Softs and has put in some very good laps through the race, but had effectively no chance to get back into the good positions from so far back. He never gave up and fought all race long," the VCARB team boss said in the team's post-race press release.
Mekies speaks of Ricciardo's likely exit
When explaining why the Australian set the fastest lap at the end of the race, Mekies said that the team wanted to give the Australian something to celebrate. "Given this may have been Daniel’s last race, we wanted to give him the chance to savour it and go out with the fastest lap. We have now a few weeks to prepare our last push for the final part of the championship and the 2 incoming triple headers. Competition is tighter than ever and we will give it our very best shout.” The VCARB team boss concluded.
This article was written in collaboration with Sandy Van Wijngaarden
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22 September 2024
