‘F***’: Daniel Ricciardo loses his mind in fiery team radio tirade

Daniel Ricciardo has exploded in an extraordinary team radio message after being in the “world’s worst position”.

Daniel Ricciardo of Australia lost the plot. Photo by Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images.

Daniel Ricciardo has exploded in a fiery radio message to his team after a frustrating sprint race at the Brazil Grand Prix on Sunday morning.

The Australian blew up as he apologised to his team for a race where his position bounced around like a yoyo.

The AlphaTauri driver finished P9 after starting the race from eighth on the grid — on a day where the team showed promising signs with Yuki Tsunoda starting sixth and finishing sixth.

There were no signs of celebration from Ricciardo, however, having finished one position outside the top eight that collect championship points.

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Max Verstappen continued his dominance with another well-measured victory for Red Bull in Sao Paulo, but behind him there was drama all over the track.

Earlier in sprint race qualifying there was a heavy collision between Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon with the Alpine driver blowing up at his former teammate.

Emotions were running high throughout the day and it was Ricciardo who appeared to lose the plot the most.

The 34-year-old was furious after dropping to P9 while fighting for eighth spot with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz. The quirk of the Interlagos circuit meant Ricciardo repeatedly passed Sainz at Turn 2, but Sainz was then repeatedly able to get the position back at Turn 4.

On top of that, Ricciardo’s dance with Sainz allowed Oscar Piastri to join the fight and he overtook Ricciardo.

The AlphaTauri driver ultimately got the better of his countryman, with Piastri coming home tenth.

Daniel Ricciardo of Australia lost the plot. Photo by Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images.

Ricciardo desperately tried to edge up alongside Sainz on the final straight but crossed the line just 0.19 seconds short.

Ricciardo was clearly not happy about it.

When told of his finishing position by his race engineer over team radio, Ricciardo responded: “Understood. Yep. F***. F***. F***. Sorry guys”.

When his engineer responded that he shared Ricciardo’s frustrations, the veteran driver exploded again.

“Yep. Understood. It’s that f***ing DRS at Turn 2,” he said.

“You pass him at one and then you just get f***ed. It’s impossible. Anyway, I’ll shut up. Sorry guys.”

What a battle this was!

Sainz, Piastri and Ricciardo all fighting hard for the final point ⚔️#BrazilGP#F1Sprintpic.twitter.com/42Z3tljqRz

— Formula 1 (@F1) November 4, 2023

Ricciardo had calmed down by the time he spoke to Sky Sports after the race.

“Fun but also frustrating,” he said of his day.

“Most people were struggling, just with the tyres here and the asphalt. It’s bad. Everyone’s fighting the car, but we seem to be fighting a little bit less than Carlos in front of us.

“I completed a move on him twice, maybe more than twice, I can’t remember. But the DRS line, the second detection is Turn 2. So I’d pass him and then basically wave him back past at Turn 4. So that was extremely frustrating.

“But I didn’t really feel like I could do much more. When you have a chance to pass someone you go for it. But I never got rewarded.”

Ricciardo said he “left the door open” for Piastri and lost some time behind Sainz as a result. He apologised again for some colourful language in the post-race interview.

“I left the door open for him,” he said.

“So that’s my bad. We lost a few laps behind him. Then we got him back and caught Carlos again. And then with a lap to go we were right on their arse, oh sorry, their behinds, it’s not really a bad word c’mon.”

He said P9 on a sprint race Saturday is the “world’s worst position”.

Ricciardo said he will be doing homework overnight before Monday morning’s Grand Prix.

“As experienced as I am, I’m still making little mistakes here and there and always learning and having some fun,” he said.

“I feel OK. I’ve calmed down a little bit.”

To add insult to injury, Ricciardo is starting the Grand Prix from P17 after a qualifying disaster on Saturday morning.

Daniel Ricciardo got it wrong and was nowhere near the apex heading into Turn 2. Photo: Fox Sports and Getty.

It was a bad day for Piastri too as he watched McLaren teammate Lando Norris finish second behind Verstappen.

The three-time world champion finished comfortably clear of Norris after snatching the lead from the pole-sitter at Turn 1.

Red Bull’s Sergio Perez finished third ahead of George Russell of Mercedes and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

Yuki Tsunoda was sixth for Alpha Tauri, scoring their first points for the Italian team, ahead of seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton in the second Mercedes and Carlos Ferrari in the second Ferrari, taking the final point for eighth.

It was Verstappen’s fourth sprint win of the season.

“Much better than last year,” he reported to his team at the finish. “It was important to get ahead at the start, but the launch wasn’t amazing.

“It’s a good start and we learned a lot for tomorrow.”

Norris said: “I think I had the power, but I was too conservative. My initial start was good but not the second part of it and then I tried to go after Max, but I just didn’t have enough...” After a poor start, Perez fell to fifth but fought back to finish third.

“I had a terrible start and had to fight hard on my tyres,” he said.

“And I paid the price in the end. Without the start, I think I could have been a lot further up.” Hamilton’s race ended in disappointment as his tyres fell off in the closing laps and he lost positions and pace. “We got it wrong today ad we have to improve,” said Mercedes team chief Toto Wolff.

Sao Paulo GP Sprint Result

1) Max Verstappen, Red Bull (8 points)

2) Lando Norris, McLaren (7 points)

3) Sergio Perez, Red Bull (6 points)

4) George Russell, Mercedes (5 points)

5) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari (4 points)

6) Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri (3 points)

7) Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes (2 points)

8) Carlos Sainz, Ferrari (1 point)

9) Daniel Ricciardo, AlphaTauri

10) Oscar Piastri, McLaren