Daniel Ricciardo says there is no explanไation for why he has suffered the majority of reliability issues at Red Bull through the 2018 Formula 1 season, putting it down to nothing but bad luck.

Ricciardo was on course to score hi🐼s first podium since the end of May when he ran second late on in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, only to suffer a failure🌳 on his car that forced him to retire from the race.

It marked Ricciardo’s eighth retireme😼nt of the year, five of which have come in the last nine races, and sparked an angry reaction from the Australian after the race.

Asked about his init🧸ial🎐 feeling when the issue emerged on his car, Ricciardo said it was “familiar” given the regularity of issues through 2018.

“Thi🎉s year it has ha🎀ppened too many times. The first thing you think is ‘not again!’” Ricciardo said.

“I was r❀elatively calm for the most part. I was more animated in Austin.🅰 It was a bit more like head down feeling.”

While Ricciardo retired from the race, Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen took a dominant victory to move 70 points ahead in the drivers’ sꦅtandings.

Verstappen has scored nine podiums this year 𒁃compared to Ricciardo’s two, and has retired on just three occasions from races.

Ricciardo did not read much into the imbalance of technical issues on his car compared tor Verstappen, saying it was nothing but bad luck.
 
“I looke🤪d at the first six months of last year, Max seemed to have most if not all of it. The﷽n the last six months, I seemed to have most or all of it,” Ricciardo said.

“So last year it was spread out in a way between us, and this year certa♌inly it is been more me. Max had the failure in Budapest and maybe somewhere else. But it certainly has been a lot more top heavy for me this year.

“I don’t really have 🐻any explanation. It sounds really simple and silly, but bad luck really is the best term I can use. All the team still like me💖, so no-one has it in for me. It has just been the way it has worked this year.

“I’ll keep trying. I know Sunday afternoons, I am pretty pissed and anima🌳ted, but honestly, I wake up Monday and am ready to go again. So i🎶t does not last too long.”

Ricciardo said after the race in Mexico he was “🥂done”ಌ with the Red Bull RB14 car, and quipped that he would le🍰t 2019 Red Bull replꩲacement Pierre Gasly drive it for the final two races of the year.

Ricciardo issued a short video in the days following the race clarif🌸ying that he would be at the last two rac🌜es with Red Bull, and explained in Brazil on Thursday how it was nothing more than an emotional reaction.
 
“Even when I෴ said it, I knew I was saying it in an emotional state. Deep down 𓂃I don’t really mean it,” Ricciardo said.

“I didn’t read any media that week but I believe some people actually thought I might not come. So I thought it was go🉐od, probably more for the mechanics, to make sure they know what seat to put in the car, and just to let everyone know.

“I didn’t do anything after the race or anything like that. So just to let everyone know I was doing okay. I knew the team would appreciate i꧒t as well. But I also wanted to give it a bit of time. I did not think a great deal about it.

“When I did the video itself on social media, I was like ‘I will just check in and say hi from a b𓃲eautiful mountain spot.’”