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A clearly frustrated Daniel Ricciardo felt “helpless” as his dreams of a fairy tale podium finish with Red Bull slipped away in the desert night at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
After leading the race for 15 laps, the Australian — who will link with Renault next season — was forced to pit on lap 34 which saw him return to the track in fifth position on Sunday.
He was able to overtake a faltering Valtteri Bottas but was unable to make up ground on the top three of world champion Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen.
“I’m alright, it wasn’t the most exciting race,” a downbeat Riccardo said afterwards.
“It was fun [leading] but [pitting late] just put me out of reach of the leaders.
“I don’t know if we had any other options. Obviously we could have pitted early and kept track position. It’s always hard to know [the best strategy].
“I don’t think anyone thought [the tyres would last to the end]. Lewis pitted really early and [probably] didn’t think he would last so strongly to the end.”
Finding himself stuck behind Verstappen with laps running out the 29-year-old said he “felt kind of helpless at the end there”.
“I couldn’t really do too much. The pace advantage originally was strong but that fell away quite quickly. We probably weren’t quick enough,” he said.
“I was a bit lonely on the last few laps. I couldn’t do much more. Obviously third and fourth was great for the team, it’s solid.
“We close this chapter now. Thanks to Red Bull, I would have loved to drink out of my shoe but who knows? There are still a few hours to go yet.”
New chapter for Ricciardo
Next season Ricciardo will suit up for Renault, in a move that polarised commentators last year.
Ricciardo endured a tough season with Red Bull, only finishing on the podium twice — with wins in China and Monaco.
The last of those victories — his seventh for Red Bull — came at the end of May and Ricciardo has since endured a torrid run of results.
Ricciardo failed to finish in six of the subsequent 15 Grand Prix, with two further retirements coming either side of his Chinese Grand Prix win that prematurely curtailed his title challenge.
That Ricciardo failed to finish in more than a third of his Grand Prix this year was down to the Red Bull’s Renault power unit, according to Red Bull boss Christian Horner.
“He had a really rough second half of the year,” Horner said.
“Unfortunately, the majority of those issues were power unit related, which we had no control over.
“It’s hugely frustrating and something that we hope with the change of engine partner [to Honda in 2019], with the progress hopefully they make, that it becomes far less of a factor next year.”
Worryingly for Ricciardo, he will be using a power unit from that same engine manufacturer next season.
For now, Ricciardo will finish with Red Bull, get to know his new team and head back to Australia to refocus on the upcoming season.
“Next week, I’ll close everything off with Red Bull, be a few days in the factory, and I imagine the following week, start to initially know a few people at Renault,” Ricciardo said.
“It’s been a long season, so looking forward to going home and just talking to the sheep and the cows on the farm and not doing a whole lot for the first few days … They get me.”
Hulkenberg flipping out in Abu Dhabi
Earlier, Ricciardo’s teammate from next season Nico Hulkenberg crashed out after flipping on the opening lap following contact with Haas’ Romain Grosjean.
Ricciardo was up to third on the ninth lap following Kimi Raikkonen’s exit due to power loss and Hamilton pitting early.
When Vettel and Bottas also chose to pit on lap 17, Ricciardo went into the lead for the 100th time in his 100th and final race with Red Bull.
As the rain and lightning swirled around the Yas Marina circuit, the Monaco resident clearly enjoyed his time at the top of the field, running on ultrasoft tyres he built his lead almost to seven seconds.
But his tyres began to degrade on lap 27, reducing his lead over Hamilton to just three seconds.
He finally pitted on lap 34 and changed to supersoft, returning to the track in fifth spot, eight seconds behind Verstappen.
Hamilton’s 11th win of the season saw him finish 88 points clear of Vettel in the driver standings with Ricciardo in sixth.
Mercedes also claimed the constructor’s championship ahead of Ferrari with Red Bull in third.
Ricciardo’s new team Renault came in a distant fourth in the overall standings, highlighting the challenge that lies ahead for the Australian driver.
ABC/AAP
Topics: formula-1, sport, motor-sports, united-arab-emirates
