Up in smoke: Daniel Ricciardo on Saturday © AFP / ANDREJ ISAKOVIC
BUDAPEST, Hungary, Aug 3 – Daniel Ricciardo admitted he was feeling “upset” after an early exit from qualifying left him 18th on the grid for Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix.
The normally big-smiling Australian, who is fighting a £10 million claim by his former adviser in London’s High Court during a disappointing debut season with Renault, admitted he felt “the most upset I’ve been in a while.”
Ricciardo has struggled for results since moving from Red Bull to Renault this year and on Saturday was involved in an incident with Racing Point’s Sergio Perez, who accused him of lacking respect for his rivals.
Both drivers were preparing for a final run when Ricciardo, frustrated at traffic ahead of him, chose to try and overtake and find space for his lap.
“We put ourselves in traffic and, at that point, I felt we could have known better as to what was going to happen — coming up to the last corner and whether I needed to create space earlier.
“So, I wasn’t creating any space and we got to the last corner and everyone is backed up. What do you do?
“Do you try and pass them and keep your tyre temperature there or do you hang back and start the lap with cold tyres?
“So I tried to go and Perez and the others weren’t going to have that. I felt Perez and I just screwed each other’s laps.”
He said his lap was compromised.
“The last run –- tha’s when you’ve got to do it and it was just a bit of a mess,” he added. “It’s certainly the most upset I’ve been in a while.”
Perez said: “I think what Daniel tried there was very disrespectful. He screwed up his lap and my lap.”
In London’s High Court, Ricciardo’s former advisor Glenn Beavis has claimed he is owed 20% of the driver’s Renault earnings, a claim that the Australian has rejected.
