This should have been a big year for Daniel Ricciardo. He outshone his young, highly-rated team-mate Max Verstappen in 2016 and described it as his best campaign yet as he pushed himself to perform at a higher level than ever before.
On top of that, the changes to the 2017 technical regulations presented an opportunity for Red Bull to haul itself back into contention for the title. But it didn't worked out like that.
It became clear as early as pre-season testing that the chassis and Renault power unit were under par. The team got on top of things on the car side, emerging with what many believe was the strongest chassis on the grid in the second-half of the year. But by then hopes of a title push were over.