Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo left the Yas Marina circuit at the end of Sunday’s race appearing to be somewhat disappointed. First of all, the ‘Honey Badger’ expressed his frustration at his failure to challenge Sergio Perez for fifth place, as he watched the Mexican from a distance as he capped off a strong end to 2015 with 10 points for his efforts.
The three-time Grand Prix winner also conceded that his former teammate Sebastian Vettel was simply faster and would inevitably finish ahead of him, despite the Ferrari failing to clear Q1 on Saturday. On reflection, though, the 27-year-old was content with sixth, finishing ahead of Perez’s teammate Nico Hulkenberg.
“Top five would have been a bit sweeter, but I couldn’t hold off Seb, whom we expected to get past us more towards the end of the race. I held him off for a lap and then, especially on those Options, his pace was so much quicker. I tried to get Perez, but couldn’t get close enough. At the start I had a sniff at Hulkenberg and went for it and that paid off. Parts of it were fun. I would have liked more battles though, but it looked quite spread out. It’s a circuit I enjoy fighting on. I have confidence in the big breaking zones here. I think we ended the season well and feel I got the most out of the car, so I’m leaving the season more happy than I was a few races ago. Sixth is probably not that representative of how good our weekend was, but I’m pretty pleased.”
After a year of tribulations for Red Bull, Ricciardo felt that his team have been galvanized by their struggles, similar to the way in which McLaren have pulled together after a season of hardship. Furthermore, he looked ahead to 2016 in what many would expect to be a transitional year for the Milton Keynes-based outfit, after a year of continuous speculation about the team’s engine partnership with Renault.
“I would love to go racing next weekend but at the same time I’m happy the season is over and I’m optimistic that next year will be better. I think we ended the season with a lot more feeling and confidence in the chassis. This season has made us stronger as a unit and I’m happy to move forward with these guys to be better next year.”
Ricciardo’s eight-point haul from the race was ultimately not enough to overthrow teammate Daniil Kvyat in the Drivers’ Standings, despite the Russian’s underwhelming start to the season.
