Ricciardo: Portuguese Grand Prix exposed Renault's weakness

After his podium place at the Nürburgring, Daniel Ricciardo's ninth place at the Portuguese Grand Prix was somewhat disappointing. The Australian, therefore, suspects that the race in the Algarve has revealed Renault's weakness.

With a fourth place in the championship, Ricciardo is doing excellent business so far this season. His team have made a lot of progress in the past few races. He believes that the combination of a high downforce track and a low grip has revealed the shortcomings of his Renault. “I still believe that our weakness lies in that in real maximum downforce,” Ricciardo said to Racefans.net.

At the Nürburgring, Ricciardo was better off getting the tyres at the right temperature than at the Autodromo do Algarve. "It’s maybe just a much slipperier track. I know Nurburgring was cold but actually once the tyre was warm the grip on the circuit was actually high.”

In Portugal, Ricciardo did not manage to get the grip. "It was slippery all through the weekend. Even low fuel, new tyres, nothing was ever really glued to the track. So I think it probably just exposed a little bit of our weakness there.”