Ricciardo said he didn't "see the point" in finishing 2018 season
Tuesday 4 December 2018 14:45, UK
Red Bull boss Christian Horner says he understands Daniel Ricciardo's Mexican GP frustration but has played down the Australian's post-race outburst.
Ricciardo, who suffered his eighth retirement of the season on Sunday, described his RB14 as "cursed" and said: "I know I'm emotional, but I don't see the point in coming for the last two races."
The 28-year-old, who is leaving Red Bull at the end of the season, added: "I'll let [Pierre] Gasly drive the car. I'm done with it."
But Horner insisted that Ricciardo's emotions were just "running incredibly high".
"He just had an immensely frustrating afternoon," the Red Bull team principal told reporters.
"You can understand his frustration and hope that this dark cloud that's following around lifts for the final two races."
Ricciardo was running second before a clutch failure, which Horner believes was similar to the one race-winner Max Verstappen had in Mexico practice.
"It's gutting not just for him but the whole team, because we were looking at potentially a one-two finish which has enormous value to us," added Horner.
"So it feels a bittersweet victory. Fantastic for Max to have driven an outstanding race, an absolutely outstanding race, but I'm pretty confident Daniel that would have been able to hold off Sebastian [Vettel] over those remaining laps."
All of Ricciardo's 2018 results
No driver has had more DNFs than Ricciardo this season, but he did seem to have calmed down following his initial post-race interview.
"I know nobody is doing it deliberately but I just can't seem to catch a break," Ricciardo explained.
"I'm a very positive guy and I will probably still wake up tomorrow with some sort of positivity."
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