Ricciardo on Spanish Grand Prix: Passing so tricky around here

Renault driver Daniel Ricciardo admitted he knew he wasn't going to score points at the Spanish Grand Prix, despite rapidly catching 10th-placed Lando Norris towards the end.

Norris was battling in a train of cars behind Sebastian Vettel, who was struggling for grip on worn soft tyres.

Ricciardo was on a similar strategy to the Ferrari but found speed in the dying stages to claw his way back into the squabble for the top 10.

But speaking to Sky Sports F1, the Australian conceded he needed someone to make a mistake in order to leave Spain with points.

"Having raced around here a few times, it was one of those ones where I can see I am catching the top 10," he said.

"I can see the battle for points is right in front of me, so I know I am closing but deep down I know they need to make a mistake to pass. Even if you have a few more tenths per lap, passing is so tricky around here and getting up close you hurt the tyres more.

"Obviously, I pushed until the end and tried to stay optimistic that something would happen but deep down I knew that unless they make a mistake it's probably going to stay where it is. It's one of those ones, I think everyone knows this track so well. It is hard to pass.

"Once you get into a DRS train it is tricky. We tried, we made a one-stop work. We got close but it is always a bit of a shame when you come close but not close enough."

Ricciardo was running with Vettel's Ferrari for much of the opening period of the race but pin-pointed the pit-stop phase as the moment he lost out on reaching the points.

"We were on the back of Vettel," he explained.

"We were both doing similar times on the medium and then he pitted a few laps earlier. It seems around there we lost a bit. I knew when we came out on the new soft we had blue flags shortly after.

"I think we lost a bit of time early in the stint and then trying to catch that up was tricky so maybe that is where we lost it. So close but everyone is within a tenth or so. We will try and get it up there in quali in Spa and race a little bit more up the front. You can overtake there so it is a little bit nicer than here."

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