Ricciardo: We are not into each other right now

Although both Red Bull drivers refused to blatantly blame one another for their Baku DNFs, Daniel Ricciardo acknowledges they are “not into each other right now.”

Racing for fourth place in Azerbaijan, Max Verstappen was ahead after passing Ricciardo with an overcut in the pit stops.

The Aussie tried to fight back, made his move, Verstappen blocked, they crashed.

Both drivers retired from the grand prix costing Red Bull a solid double points-haul.

Ricciardo told reporters: “My feelings are obviously pretty yeah, um, down I guess for the situation.

“Thankful we are allowed to race especially myself and Max, we love to race as we’ve showed.

“That’s cool and we did get close a few times in the race, touching and that.

“Some times we were on the limit and it is unfortunate that it ended like it did.

“It is not a nice situation.

“I think we both feel pretty bad that it ended like that. For the team it is pretty crappy.”

As for the blame, he said: “It is a tough one and I’ll let you guys and fans have their comments.

“The gap was opening on the inside and once I was there I had to commit to that.

“It’s more just heartbreak for how everyone at the team is feeling right now.”

Ricciardo, though, did acknowledge that while Red Bull aren’t playing the blame game and have already spoken with both drivers, that doesn’t mean they are “cool” at the moment.

“We are not into each other right now, it’s more about saying sorry to the team, trying to apologise for the best way we can.

‘We don’t want to be in that situation.”