BAKU, Azerbaijan -- Daniel Ricciardo said Red Bull did not choose to adopt a two-stop strategy at the Grand Prix of Europe but had its hand forced by high rear tyre degradation on the Baku City Circuit.
Ricciardo started second and finished seventh as Red Bull struggled for race pace compared to its rivals. He pitted as early as lap six to switch to soft tyres before a second stop on lap 22 to move to the medium compound.
"We went backwards quite quickly," he said. "We just had rear tyre issues and couldn't keep the grip in them, couldn't keep the temperature out of them. They just felt like they were just getting really hot and wheel-spinning in fourth gear. It's a bit unexpected; we race in some hot circuits across the calendar and Singapore, for example, is always one of our stronger ones.
"We didn't expect to struggle today but that was our biggest limitation today. We need to understand why. The two-stop wasn't the plan but we were forced to do it. There was nothing with strategy ... We couldn't do anything better with what we had, we just didn't have the pace today."
Ricciardo said it came as a surprise after the team's success at recent races.
"Yeah, it's interesting. Some races work and you're able to push the tyre all the way and it seems easy, everyone says 'you're so good at managing tyres!' Then days like today you're helpless. I spoke briefly with Max [Verstappen] and I believe he suffered with the same things, I think on lap three we were both saying we couldn't do anything out there.
"I think it's just important we understand why. Fortunately we're a big team and we've got a lot of tools, I'm sure we'll get on top of it. If we get on top of it it will be a step forward."