Red Bull Charger Sees Red.

Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull, F1, AGP. (C)

    You have to feel for Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo. The Australian looked set to win the last two Formula One Grands Prix only to be denied by either seemingly tactical errors or operational errors by his team. Formula One is a team sport. There's no denying that. An F1 team wins and loses together. A team would undeniably feel deflated when a driver bins it into a wall or gravel trap. Likewise with a driver when the team makes a costly error.
    The Spanish GP at Catalunya was a victory to Daniel Ricciardo that went begging. The arrival of Max Verstappen to Red Bull after being promoted from junior team Scuderia Toro Rosso spurned D. Ricc. to attempt to assert his authority over the karting prodigy. Ricciardo was leading the Spanish GP and with Verstappen running a strong fourth, Red Bull were forced to split their strategies. Theoretically a three-stop strategy was the quicker option to the two-stop strategy, but it required the three stopper with fresh tyres to overtake cars in front on the final stint to claim victory. Ricciardo switched to a three-stop strategy. Realistically, this was not the case. At the chequered flag positions were reversed with Verstappen becoming the youngest winner in F1 history at the tender age of 18. Not to take anything away from Verstappen, as his drive was mature beyond his years. But did Ricciardo have any input on strategy during the race? Surely the lead driver on track has the call on strategy. With radio communications limited this year, are the team even able to give Ricciardo the options available on strategy during the race? Track position is still king, right?
    Which leads us to Monaco. Well, what can you say? Daniel Ricciardo dominated the bulk of the weekend. He bagged an emphatic pole position, looked quick in both wet and dry conditions, and was in the process beating the unforgiving Mercedes team fair and square on track. A faultless display of car control. Then there was that disastrous pit stop. The jackmen were there, the wheel gun men were there, the tyre removers were there, but the tyre men and more importantly the tyres were not. Ricciardo sat up on the jacks with no wheels and tyres while he painstakingly waited for what seemed like an eternity for fresh rubber. The team later offered the explanation that through a combination of contributing factors, the available tyre compounds were not in the garage. What a revelation! This allowed Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton to abscond with the win. Teams really do win and lose together.
    Certainly will be intriguing to see how D. Ricc. and Red Bull bounce back in this weekend's Canadian GP....    

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