30/05/2016
NEWS STORY
In the podcast following the Russian Grand Prix, recorded after Red Bull had announced the driver swap involving Max Verstappen and Daniil Kvyat, Mat Coch opined that countryman Daniel Ricciardo should leave the Austrian team at season end.
Having seen the way fellow Australian Mark Webber had been nudged out of the spotlight following the arrival of Sebastian Vettel, Coch feared that history was due to repeat itself as the team now focusses on Verstappen.
Remember, this was before Max' fairy tale debut in Barcelona.
Whatever the whys and wherefores, in successive races, Red Bull has - to use Daniel's own phrase - "screwed" the Australian, and in the full glare of the media spotlight.
In Spain it was a change of tyre strategy, in Monaco it was the failure to have a set of tyres to change.
From the euphoria of Saturday, when Ricciardo had taken pole with a lap that impressed his keenest rivals, the usually likeable, upbeat Australian was a broken man as he stood on the podium twenty-four hours later.
"How do I feel? Like I have been run over by an 18-wheel truck for the second week in a row," he told reporters, the pain etched on his face.
This wasn't the petulant reaction we've come to expect from some of his rivals, this was the heartfelt feeling of a man who had given 100% only to be kicked in the teeth - and he has so many of them - by his team.
"I took Barcelona on the chin, but two in a row? And especially here at Monaco.
"It wasn't my call, it was the team's call " he added, making it crystal clear that it was the team that made the decision to pit, and not a late call by the driver himself. "I told them after the race that nothing they can say will make me feel better."
"Unfortunately, the set of tyres we called for were at the back of the garage so there was a scramble," admitted team boss Christian Horner. "They had the soft tyre ready and when the call came they couldn't get the tyres to the car, which probably cost 10 seconds."
And those "ten seconds" were the difference between victory at the most prestigious event on the F1 calendar, and second, 'first of the losers' as the saying goes.
For a team which has a ruthless reputation when it comes to its drivers should they fail to perform, heads should roll for yesterday's failure.
To paraphrase Oscar Wilde, to "screw up" once may be regarded as a misfortune, to "screw up" twice looks like carelessness."
And all this on a day when the team that spent most of last year, and some of this year, threatening to leave the sport, unless it got the engine supply it wanted, having publicly rubbished Renault, signed a new two-year deal with the French manufacturer.
Though his options are limited, certainly in terms of teams providing him with a winning car, Daniel Should follow Mat Coch's advice and get out.
Max is the golden boy now Daniel, learn from Mark and get out now.
Chris Balfe
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