Ricciardo 'fed up' with run of bad luck

Daniel Ricciardo is growing increasingly frustrated with his lack of good fortune in Formula 1 through 2018, believing his current luckless run reaches as far back as prior to the Monaco Grand Prix at the end of May.

Ricciardo took a dominant victory from pole position in Monaco, but had to manage an issue on his car throughout the race which left him at risk of being overtaken for the win.

The Red Bull F1 driver has not appeared on the podium since his Monaco victory – some 11 races ago – while teammate Max Verstappen has notched six top-three finishes in the same period, including a win at the Austrian Grand Prix.

Ricciardo’s latest setback came during qualifying in Japan when a throttle issue prevented him from taking part in Q2, leading the Australian to admit to his frustration over his run of bad luck.

“I can’t really [believe it], because even if I go back to Monaco, I got the result, but if you forget what my result was, I had a lot of bad luck on that Sunday,” Ricciardo said.

“It nearly went. I did have bad luck, but I didn’t, because it still got me home, so I kind of feel even Monaco wasn’t that smooth. I was just sitting with my engineer before, and we really struggled to think of a smooth weekend we’ve had from start to finish.

“I don’t want it to come across all negative, but I think it’s just more that we’ve had a really unlucky one. I don’t really know why. Obviously I’m frustrated and fed up, but I’m not going to let it get the best of me.

“I’m just going to keep trying and believe it will eventually turn around, hopefully at some point this year.”

Ricciardo managed to recover to fourth place at Suzuka after starting 15th on the grid, but now trails Verstappen by 27 poinst in the drivers’ championship standings with four races to go this season.