Daniel Ricciardo started the 2024 Hungarian GP from ninth on the grid after a good performance in qualifying, putting him in a decent position to compete for points. Unfortunately, the V-CARB driver finished in P12 and blamed it entirely on V-CARB’s strategists, similar to his Red Bull counterpart Max Verstappen.
V-CARB, a sister team to Red Bull, made Ricciardo pit very early on lap seven. It brought him down to 16th, where he spent the majority of the race’s first half. Eventually, it would hamper his result, as the later pit-stops did not help him get into the top 10 for points.
A frustrated Ricciardo told Viaplay, “That’s one of the worst strategy calls I’ve had in two hundred and fifty-something races. A long, old frustrating race where I just had a lot of anger”.
Daniel Ricciardo was left fuming after the Hungarian GP
The Australian wanted his RB team to apologise for his F1 race strategy that left him finishing in 12th place from 9th on the grid pic.twitter.com/C9wcPaJjf8
— Autosport (@autosport) July 22, 2024
From the Red Bull fraternity’s point of view, strategists did not have a good day overall. Verstappen too, lashed out at his team after their decision-making led to Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc undercutting him at both pit stops respectively.
Meanwhile, Ricciardo admitted that he knew from the very get-go — pitting early would be a mistake. What angered him even more was his teammate Yuki Tsunoda‘s race.
Tsunoda was out until lap 29 on medium tires before he made his first pit stop. The Japanese driver made a one-stop strategy work thereafter, which allowed him to finish P9, despite starting P10.
Ricciardo wanted Tsunoda’s strategy
Tsunoda ended the race ahead of the position he started in, which is something Ricciardo pointed out after the race. Had V-CARB chosen a similar strategy for the Australian driver, he could have made up places too.
“We would have had clear air and a chance to, I think from what I understand, do Yuki’s race,” the 35-year-old felt.
Yes Yuki!! P9 in Hungary pic.twitter.com/VaC4z0X5rF
— Visa Cash App RB F1 Team (@visacashapprb) July 21, 2024
Instead, he was stuck in no man’s land, with much faster cars behind him. He added, “Stroll’s catching me a second a lap and maybe more, and they’re saying it’s really important to keep him behind. What do you want me to do?”. Ricciardo questioned how the team could expect him to fight faster cars behind, on older tires after pitting so early in the race.
The Hungarian GP was a forgettable race for both of Red Bull’s teams. Car performance is an issue, especially for Red Bull but heading into Spa, they would be looking to be strong on the strategy front, at least.
