"Grumpy-pants" Ricciardo aiming to replicate Perez success

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

"Grumpy-pants" Ricciardo aiming to replicate Perez success

Renault driver lines up 12th in his final race for the team

Ewan Gale

Saturday 12 December 2020 17:36

Daniel Ricciardo conceded to being "grumpy" after qualifying 12th for the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix but is aiming to follow in Sergio Perez's footsteps and fight back and take a podium in his final race for Renault.

Ricciardo, who moves to McLaren next season, struggled at Yas Marina and finished not only behind team-mate Esteban Ocon but also behind Racing Point's Lance Stroll and both McLaren's, his team's rivals in the fight for championship position.

Pointing to Perez's success in Sakhir, where the Mexican came back from last on lap one to take victory, Ricciardo said he is still hoping to stand on the podium for Renault one last time.

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"I don't like to be the grumpy-pants," he told Sky Sports F1. "This is my last one so I wanted to do better for the team as well so I will try to do what the others did last week and try to come through from the back and be on the podium."

The disappointing performance for the French manufacturer came off the back of a promising outing in FP3 in which Ricciardo and Ocon finished third and fourth.

Australian Ricciardo was left dumbfounded by the sudden loss of pace but remained optimistic that an alternative strategy could help make up for the lowly starting position.

"It was a strange one," he added. "We didn't really have the pace, but we had it a few hours ago in practice.

"For sure, the track changes a little bit but you expect to be a little closer in qualifying to our competitors. Right now, I don't like being 12th for sure, but we will try to make something happen.

"Normally things are easier in the night, things come to you. We will start on a different strategy to our competitors tomorrow, we will at least try something now so, we will figure this one out."