Ricciardo had doubts over extra pit stop

2016 Singapore Grand Prix

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Daniel Ricciardo admitted he was sceptical at first about Red Bull’s decision to make an extra pit stop at the end of the Singapore Grand Prix.

The Red Bull driver went on a charge after his extra stop, taking 25 seconds out of Nico Rosberg’s lead as he tried to catch and pass the Mercedes.

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“At the time our pace on the soft for that last stint was quite good,” he said after the race. “I was catching Rosberg slowly.”

“At first I was a bit hesitant when they said we were going to do a three stop, but obviously now I see it. It was good to put a bit of pressure on them.”

Ricciardo’s engineer told him at one point he was on course to catch the race leader but said “I knew at the time he meant ‘at that current pace'”.”

Ricciardo said he was aware it would have been difficult to pass Rosberg even if he had caught the Mercedes in time. “I knew my pace would drop off a bit because I was getting into the tyres pretty aggressively.”

“But I knew it was going to be close. I wasn’t really thinking about what happens when I catch him, I was just just focusing on trying to catch him and put some pressure on him because I knew his engineer would be on the radio saying ‘Ricciardo’s catching you, two seconds a lap’. It’s not a nice feeling when you hear that.”

“I was just trying to keep pushing, force him into a bit of an error or something. But I knew once I caught him it was going to be tricky to overtake.”

2016 Singapore Grand Prix

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    Keith Collantine
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    4 comments on “Ricciardo had doubts over extra pit stop”

    1. I must admit I was surprised when they called him in because I thought he’d easily make it to the end and he seemed to bo closing up on Nico.

      I think the fact that the others had come in and were belting out such fast laps sort of forced their hand.

    2. Being controlled by a race leader in Singapore for a second year in a row is never an easy thing matey, so I got your point.

    3. In fairness, if they hadn’t brought him in he would have still finished second quite probably, so it was definitely worth them trying anyway just to see if it was going to work.

      1. yeah, he was like 3.5 secs behind Rosberg, and Hamilton who never had any pace on him this weekend, finished 8 secs behind Rosberg.

        But it paid off. He almost won. Don’t think he would get so close with a 2 stop.

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