Ricciardo has explanations for his disappointing race in Imola

Daniel Ricciardo left Red Bull Racing not so long ago with dreams and a new lease of life. After a mixed period at Renault, where he did manage to reach the podium twice, the Australian is currently struggling to keep up with his young teammate Lando Norris. The Brit was also a star at Imola, where Ricciardo drove a rather mediocre race.

Lando Norris

On Saturday, the man usually known as a 'qualifying beast' had to acknowledge the superiority of Norris, and where the latter drove to the podium in Italy, Ricciardo continued to lag behind, although he was still seventh. During the race there was even a swap, for which the former teammate of Verstappen had to swallow his pride.

Ricciardo looks back on his race with Chris Medland at Racer.com: "I got up to fifth place and was doing well on the intermediates. But then I started to lose right front and my pace dropped quite a bit. In that second phase on the intermediates I wasn't fast. He [Lando Norris] was definitely faster."

Red Flag

The Australian also has a reason for his performance after the red flag: "Before the restart I thought there would be a standing start, so we put the soft on. Then I saw a rolling start and I thought, 'Ahhh...'. I tried to pay attention to the tire, but the others kept pulling away. I started to push and then I really struggled."

Still, Ricciardo has hope for the future: "I still have a lot to learn and a lot to improve. Lando got a podium and drove a strong race, so this is encouraging."