Renault Team Principal, Cyril Abiteboul, has said that Daniel Ricciardo needed to show more patience in the Formula 1 Brazilian Grand Prix.

Ricciardo made contact with Magnussen in the opening stages of the race, sending the Haas into a spin, whilst also damaging Riccardo’s front wing.

That incident forced Ricciardo to pit to replace the wing, and he ended up at the back of the field, before taking advantage of other incidents ahead of him, and strong race pace, to finish seventh on the track, before being promoted to sixth after Lewis Hamilton’s penalty for colliding with Alex Albon.

But, despite Ricciardo managing to secure some points, his boss, Abiteboul believes that had the Australian shown more patience, then it is possible they could have left Brazil still in the hunt for fourth place in the constructor’s championship, after McLaren sealed that position as a result of Carlos Sainz Jr’s third place.

“The collision with Magnussen and the ensuing penalty effectively excluded Daniel from a race that could have been better for him, especially with a bit of patience at the beginning of the race.” commented Abiteboul.

“He nonetheless showed resilience even when racing in last place, right until the events at the end of the race that allowed him to climb back up the order.

“Unfortunately, these events also helped our rivals.

“We must absolutely avoid putting ourselves in this situation at the last race in Abu Dhabi.”

Ricciardo accepted responsibility for the incident with Magnussen and admitted that he thought his race was over after the contact, but was happy to still end the day with some points.

“After the early incident, I would have said ‘no way we could finish seventh’, so I’m quite happy with that.” added Ricciardo.

“I take responsibility for the incident with Kevin. It was close, but I went into him and he spun.

“Sometimes you can do that and it works, but sometimes you touch wheels.

“In that situation you think the race is over, but we kept our heads down and managed a really strong race.”