Daniel Ricciardo benefited from Renault team orders in Canada

Renault

Ricciardo benefited from Renault team orders in Canada

Matthew Scott

Monday 10 June 2019 18:07 Updated: 18:31

Cyril Abiteboul said that ordering Nico Hulkenberg to remain behind Daniel Ricciardo at the Canadian Grand Prix was a necessity in order to secure Renault's first double points finish of the season. Ricciardo and Hulkenberg came hoe sixth and seventh respectively in Montreal.

Getting both in the top 10 for the first time in 2019 suggested that Renault's upgrades are beginning to pay off after a frustrating start to the season hampered by poor reliability.

Hulkenberg may have been able to flip their order, as he closed in rapidly on Ricciardo late in the race, but any attempt to challenge his team-mate was called off from the pit-wall.

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"Probably Nico would have had the pace to overtake him, but frankly we said 'we need that result'," Abiteboul said.

"I don't like to do that, it's not the style of the team, that's something that we don't intend to do on many occasions. I wanted to make sure that the team's back in the game, and the drivers will also be back in the game, their own game, from next week onwards.

"For this weekend it was important to get back as close as possible to the team that's still fourth, which is McLaren."

Hulkenberg said during the race that he feared his gearbox would explode and conceded that a spot behind Ricciardo as perhaps deserved after qualifying three places behind.

"I had 10 lap fresher tyres and had more pace in hand, but when I pushed on to him my car started to overheat, the engine and brakes, and I started to get some brake fading," he said.

"It was quite unfortunate that I couldn't get that done, but I guess I should have done a better job in qualifying yesterday."