Australian Red Bull Racing driver Daniel Ricciardo has opened up about the recent run-in featuring teammate Sebastian Vettel of ahead of this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix.
Ricciardo’s hot start to the 2014 Formula 1 season has already seen three-time world champ Vettel ordered twice to move across for the 24-year-old, who initially responded to team officials with a “tough luck” at last month’s Chinese GP.
The ‘misunderstanding’ eventually saw Vettel allow Ricciardo to pass, but not before reviving memories of last year’s controversial in-race dispute between the German and then teammate Mark Webber.
“We throw up different scenarios and discuss it, discuss it between drivers and between principals and engineers,” Ricciardo told The West Australian.
“It is our responsibility to obey it, unless it’s completely out of order and then we can obviously try and put up a fight and give our reasons.
“But the team are doing all the calculations on pit wall during the race and you have to respect what they’re saying. It’s not always nice if you are being told to move over. It’s not nice being that slower car, it’s frustrating.”
Daniel Ricciardo has undoubtedly been the better of the two drivers this season despite trailing Vettel in the driver’s standings; one spot and nine points behind the fifth placed reigning champ. Those numbers were distorted by Ricciardo’s disqualification at the Melbourne GP and don’t reflect fourth-placed April finishes in Bahrain and Shanghai, both better than the struggling Vettel.
Red Bull are struggling four GPs into the season after a hot start from Mercedes pair Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton, yet Ricciardo wouldn’t rule out the same type of incident happening again despite the team already backed into a corner.
“We know it ourselves and even told each other that we want to race hard,” Ricciardo said.
“I want to race the best version of Seb and he wants to race the best version of me. At the end of the day I think we’ll both respect whoever’s done a better job.
“Deep, deep down none of us like losing. If Seb’s done a better job this year, I won’t like it, but I’ll definitely respect him for it and give him the credit he deserves.
The Spanish Grand Prix kicks off in Catalunya May 9-11.
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