Marko: Daniel will have to live with these problems

Head of the Red Bull driver development programme Dr Helmut Marko hasn't pulled any punches in his frank assessment of the latest retirement for Daniel Ricciardo during the United States Grand Prix. Ricciardo suffered yet another DNF due to technical issues in a season to forget for the Australian.

Whilst teammate Max Verstappen was perhaps the star of the show in Austin, Ricciardo went out to another mechanical failure at the Circuit of the Americas and his displeasure was clear to see as he gave his stranded Red Bull a one finger salute as he walked away from another race in progress.

Marko though had little sympathy for Ricciardo, bluntly pointing out that he might have to put up with similar issues next season as he will be on the move to the Renault works team

“Poor him, he will have to live with these problems for another two years," Marko said after the race.

Outside of the retirement, Verstappen's performance and Toro Rosso's increase in pace gave the Austrian cause for optimism, saying that they could well be fighting for the championship next season with their new alliance with Honda.

“Next year with the Honda engine I think we can fight for the world championship, the project is really very good and I’m absolutely serious.”