"Nothing they can say can make me feel better" - When Daniel Ricciardo was furious at Red Bull for costing him a win in Monaco
Former Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo had once said he was furious at the Austrian team for costing him a win at the 2016 Monaco Grand Prix and nothing could make him feel better about it. The Aussie driver had a successful stint with the Milton Keynes outfit from 2014 to 2018, following his move from Toro Rosso.
The then-three-time race winner had gone winless in 2015 after claiming three wins in his first year with Red Bull in 2014. After missing out on the win in Spain 2016 where his new teammate Max Verstappen won on debut, Ricciardo was left raging in Monaco as he felt the team cost him another win.
Daniel Ricciardo had dominated the weekend in Monaco in 2016 and had been in the lead from pole position, in tricky conditions. The Aussie driver saw the race win slip through his fingers when the pit crew did not have tires ready for him, which meant he slipped from the lead to P2 behind Lewis Hamilton.
In his post-race interview, the Aussie spoke about how he was feeling, saying (via Sky Sports):
"To be honest, after the race, I told him to save their breath. I said nothing they can say can make me feel better. I don't think we can achieve anything today for me. I want to get the hell out of here to be honest."
When Daniel Ricciardo spoke about the impact of the Monaco 2016 loss
Former F1 driver Daniel Ricciardo said that the Monaco 2016 loss had haunted him for two years and believed that his triumph in the principality in 2018 was a relief for him. He had written about his experiences in Monaco in a "diary entry" on social media in 2020.
The eight-time race winner had written:
“I’m not going to lie, Monaco 2016 haunted me for two years, and then to not put a foot wrong in 2018 and thinking the win would slip away from me again…Monaco 2018 was a different level of stress simply because of what had happened there in ’16.
"The main feeling was sheer relief that this time I didn’t have it taken away from me. I enjoyed it more the days after the Sunday when it all sunk in, but that Sunday night – I was just burned out. It was more a massive exhale than anything else.”
The 2018 Monaco Grand Prix is arguably the greatest win of Daniel Ricciardo's career, given he had to resist the pressure of Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel for most of the race while suffering from a power unit issue through a large part of the race.
After his win in the principality, the Aussie driver failed to finish on the podium in the next four visits to the iconic track.