Ricciardo understands Red Bull chief Mateschitz's Renault outburst
Daniel Ricciardo believes Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz's outburst at its Formula 1 engine supplier Renault this week was purely down to frustration getting the better of him
Mateschitz's launched his camp's latest attack on Renault in an interview with the Red Bull-owned Speedweek title, saying the French firm's underperformance has "destroyed" Red Bull's enjoyment of F1.
Ricciardo also vented his frustration two weeks ago in Canada after finishing down in 13th place, and speaking at Red Bull's home race in Austria on Friday he said he could understand where Mateschitz was coming from.
"I heard a few of the comments and I think it was a bit like my comments in Canada - a lot of frustration," said Ricciardo.
"We're not in the first two or three races anymore, we're now in the eighth race of the season so the frustration can start to build.
"We know we're still at a big disadvantage. We were optimistic we'd close the gap this year - I think that's where the frustration comes from."
Ricciardo will take his first engine-change grid penalty of the season this weekend, and he hopes using a fresh power unit will encourage Renault to push the boundaries more than in recent races.
"In a way we've now accepted the penalty, it's not a waiting game anymore and we'll deal with it," he said.
"Hopefully with the fifth power unit we can now take a few more risks and extract some more power from it.
"It probably won't change the world, but it might play to our advantage somewhere."
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