Ricciardo receives Red Bull apology for Mexico DNF

Red Bull team principal Cristian Horner issued a public apology to Daniel Ricciardo after the Australian's eighth DNF of 2018 cost him a certain podium at the Mexican Grand Prix. Ricciardo suffered suspected hydraulic failure just nine laps out for the end of the race as he was holding off Sebastian Vettel for seventh place.

Ricciardo stunned teammate Max Verstappen by pipping him to pole, but a sluggish start cost him as the Dutchman went on to take a dominant victory in Mexico for the second year running.

A furious Ricciardo said he was "done" with Red Bull after the race and claimed he was unsure if he is willing to race in the final two grands prix of the season.

The Australian will depart Red Bull for Renault in 2019 and has failed to finish four of the seven races since announcing his move in the summer break.

Horner took to Instagram after the Mexico race, congratulating Verstappen on his victory, while also saying sorry to Ricciardo.

View this post on Instagram

I'm delighted the Team secured victory today, but it's bittersweet to have lost Daniel when we looked set for a 1-2. It was a fantastic drive by Max who controlled the race in an extremely mature manner. The frustration for us as a Team is that we didn't have both drivers on the podium. Our apologies go to Daniel today, we will continue to fight as a Team for both drivers to score as many points as possible in the remaining races. Congratulations on securing a fifth Drivers' World Championship @lewishamilton ???????????? #mexicogp #redbullracing #f1

A post shared by Christian Horner (@christianhornerofficial) on Oct 28, 2018 at 6:14pm PDT

Ricciardo said that future Red Bull driver Pierre Gasly could have his car for the Brazil and Abu Dhabi GPs and Horner was not surprised at his drivers anger.

"He's just had an immensely frustrating afternoon,'' Horner added.

"You can understand his emotions are running incredibly high. It's gutting not just for him but for the whole team because we were looking at potentially a one-two finish which has enormous value to us.

"You can understand his frustration and hope that this dark cloud that is following him around lifts for the final two races."

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