F1 | Renault, Abiteboul: “We made a strategic error during the race”

Renault was certainly expecting a different race in Monte Carlo after the good qualifying of Ricciardo, who started from sixth position, but due to an evident strategic error the Australian was unable to go beyond ninth place at the finish line. Hulkenberg did worse than him, only fourteenth after an uphill race even after the contact he had with Leclerc in the early stages of the Grand Prix.

“After qualifying on Saturday, we thought the bulk of the work had been done – said Cyril Abiteboul, Renault team principal. Unfortunately, the most important decision of the race was to stop Daniel during the Safety Car, and in retrospect it was the wrong choice, as we gave McLaren the opportunity to implement a smart team strategy with Norris and Sainz. The only two positives: we returned to the points and the car demonstrated its potential, not only on the qualifying simulations, but also in the long runs. This is clearly a wasted opportunity, which does not reward the hard work done by teams and drivers."