This was a weekend really to forget for Red Bull Racing. Qualifying saw both cars outqualified by their sister team – Toro Rosso and the race saw both cars slip behind both McLarens and Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari in the race. They also lost their stranglehold on the Constructors’ Championship to Mercedes, something which Red Bull has held since the 2010 Brazilian Grand Prix. As well as this, Daniel Ricciardo’s chances of snatching the World Championship are effectively nil now, with him 92 points behind with just 100 available.
Red Bull Russian GP Review
No. 1 Sebastian Vettel (GER)
Grid: P10 (qualified P11 but moved up due to Magnussen’s penalty)
Race: P8
It was Sebastian Vettel’s worst race finish result of the season. That paired with failing to get into Q3 yet again summed up his weekend really. Although he made a superb start and found himself ahead of his team mate early on, failing to set a succession of quick laps in the pit window saw him drop back behind. This weekend will be one to forget for Vettel, he will be hoping for better at Austin, a track which unsurprisingly he won at last year.
No. 3 Daniel Ricciardo (AUS)
Grid: P6
Race: P7
It was a solid yet unspectacular race weekend for Ricciardo. He found himself being outqualified by his future team mate Daniil Kvyat and a Mark Webber-esque start saw him slip behind his team mate and Fernando Alonso early into the race. He struggled to make his way past Vettel until the pit stops. He did eventually come out ahead of Vettel but he could do absolutely nothing once he caught up to Alonso who had been held in the stops. To remain with a shot at the World Championship, he must outscore Lewis Hamilton by 18 points in Austin. That is very unlikely now. I think the target for him now is to return to the podium at least once before the end of the season, to give him some sort of boost heading into 2015 when he will lead the Red Bull team.
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