‘One of the worst I’ve had’: Furious Ricciardo scorches own team for race-ruining call

An “angry” Daniel Ricciardo has torched his own team after a brutal call completely ruined his race and left his career hanging by a thread.

Daniel Ricciardo was fuming after the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Daniel Ricciardo has been left absolutely fuming after a pit stop strategy error ruined his race at the Hungarian Grand Prix, as the 35-year-old runs out of chances to keep his career alive.

Oscar Piastri claimed his maiden F1 grand prix win in controversial circumstances as his McLaren teammate Lando Norris was instructed to gift the Aussie the victory early on Monday (AEST).

Ricciardo started ninth on the grid at the Hungaroring but was on of the first drivers to pit on lap 7, following Fernando Alonso into the pits a lap after Alex Albon, Kevin Magnussen, and Esteban Ocon pitted.

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The Aussie had fallen behind Albon and Magnussen off the start, with that duo on soft tyres while Ricciardo was on mediums.

Instead of doing a long first stint, Ricciardo believes his VISA Cash App RB team made a mistake by pitting him so early.

As a result, he spent most of the race in 16th before ultimately finishing out of the points in 12th, more than a lap behind the race leaders.

His teammate Yuki Tsunoda finished ninth after he boxed on lap 29.

Daniel Ricciardo felt his was race was ruined. (Photo by Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images)

Ricciardo was clearly fuming post-race in a tense exchange with his engineer Pierre Hamelin.

“I’m really trying to bite my tongue, but you must know how I feel about the first stop,” Ricciardo said.

Hamelin: “Understood.”

Ricciardo: “If you feel the same, please …”

Hamelin: “We’ll review everything. I don’t know what to say now.”

“You don’t want to pull into the pits,” Ricciardo said post-race.

“You get the call and you know this isn’t the thing to do. We come out in traffic, and it’s a DRS train, and for what?”

“That was one of the worst ones I’ve had in 250 races.

“We did a race today but we didn’t do a race, if you know what I mean. We were just driving around.”

“It’s a late call, box, box, box, and you pit,” Ricciardo said.

“Honestly, as soon as I’m pulling in the pits I’m questioning it, but you can’t (do anything about it).

“We talk about strategies and that, but two cars jumped us at the start with a soft tyre. That’s fine, let them go,” he added.

“They pit and we follow them to then just be on their strategy.

“We have a clear track, and we decided to get behind them and put ourselves in a DRS train.

“I mean, I’ve had a lot of races and I’ve had a lot of frustrating races, but that’s up there.

“We had the pace and we basically gave Yuki the race that we had in front of us, and we both could have done that, and we didn’t.”

Daniel Ricciardo was not happy after the Hungarian Grand Prix. Photo: X.

Ricciardo said he expected his team to apologise to him for the strategy call.

“Honestly, I was expecting more. On the in-lap I was waiting for ‘Sorry, we f***ed up’, and I didn’t get it.

“That made me even more angry.”

He said he became even more enraged when he was urged to hold off Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll late in the race.

“Stroll’s catching me a second a lap and maybe more, and they’re saying it’s really important to keep him behind,” Ricciardo said.

“What do you want me to do? You’ve pitted me so early, I’m on older tyres, so I’m also being expected to fight when we’re not really in a fight anymore.

“That was also frustrating. It’s like there were times where I just felt like the bed was made.”

VISA Cash App RB team boss Laurent Mekies said: “We got it wrong with Daniel and pitted him too early in heavy traffic, which lost him a chance to fight for points.”

Ricciardo is fighting for his F1 future. (Photo by Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images)

Ricciardo’s frustration was palpable and understandable, given he is driving for his F1 career every race this season.

Sergio Perez finished seventh as McLaren’s 1-2 finish saw the papaya outfit trim Red Bull’s lead in the constructors’ championship to 51 points.

Just the Belgium Grand Prix remains before the mid-year summer break in August, when the 2025 F1 grid is expected to take shape.

Red Bull have upped the urgency on Perez to improve his results with team principal Christian Horner declaring the team “cannot run on one leg” after Perez crashed during qualifying in Hungary.

Ferrari discard Carlos Sainz is yet to make a decision on his future and it seems Red Bull, Mercedes and Williams and are all waiting to see if they can sign the Spaniard.

Ricciardo could be running out of chances to press his chase for Perez’s Red Bull seat, while reserve driver Liam Lawson is another option for the team — either at Red Bull or VCARB.

Originally published as ‘One of the worst I’ve had’: Furious Ricciardo scorches own team for race-ruining call