It’s been another difficult weekend for Daniel Ricciardo in the FIA Formula 1 World Championship after he just missed out on a points paying finish in the Canadian Grand Prix overnight.
 
Ricciardo had given himself every opportunity to place in the top 10 having qualified ninth, however he was multiple issues, that were no fault of his own, impacted his race day.
 
His solid start and good work in the opening stages was undone during a botched pitstop where he lost significant time - his teammate Lando Norris also suffering after the team opted for a double stack.
 
After dropping multiple places down the order, Ricciardo did his best to climb his way back into the top 10 and had even made it to 10th before being passed by Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll in the dying stages.
 
With both McLarens lacking pace and having reliability issue, it was weekend to forget for the team as Ricciardo acknowledged the car was difficult to drive.
 
“We were just not really quick today. We were struggling for some pace and then we had to manage a few issues as well so not being able to push and attack put us too far out of the battle for points,” Ricciardo said.
 
“Simply not a very fast-paced race for us. Just a little bit of temperature stuff [was holding us back].
 
“We were pushing 100 per cent. We could just hang on to the top 10 but once we started to manage temperatures and things like this, it put us out of the fight. Would love to have had a better race but we simply just weren’t quick enough.”
 
Ahead of him, reigning champion Max Verstappen did his title defence no harm with a strong victory – his first at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal.
 
It was a clinical performance from the Dutchman, who converted his pole position to the race win ahead of Carlos Sainz, who had a late push for the lead and claimed the Fastest Lap bonus point, while Lewis Hamilton picked up his first podium since March’s season opener.
 
George Russell’s highly consistent season continued as another strong performance saw him place fourth, while Driver of the Day Charles Leclerc made up a race-high 15 places to finish fifth after starting from the back of the grid.
 
Rounding out the rest of the top 10 was Esteban Ocon, Valtteri Bottas, Zhou Guanyu, Fernando Alonso and Stroll.
 
The Championship returns to Europe early next month for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone Circuit on 3 July.