RB’s hopes of a points finish in Shanghai were dashed within a dramatic few moments in Sunday’s race after Ricciardo was hit from behind by Lance Stroll behind the safety car, while Tsunoda was involved in a race-ending clash with Kevin Magnussen at the restart.
Neither driver was able to finish the race, and RB team principal Laurent Mekies felt that both of the incidents against his drivers could easily have been avoided by their rivals, who were subsequently given penalties for their part in the crashes.
Asked by Autosport about whether the accidents were clumsy or a consequence of the frenetic midfield fight, Mekies said: “I don't know really, but I think both looked unnecessary.
“It's not like those where you see how it's always going to end up in a crash. No, both looked quite unnecessary. So I would like to hope that they are one-offs in an otherwise intense battle.”
Mekies felt the incidents had robbed his squad of another points-scoring finish, especially as Ricciardo had produced what up until his race exit looked like being his best weekend of the season so far.
“It's a big opportunity lost,” added Mekies. “We got both our cars taken out by competitors in one lap, so obviously it's a big missed opportunity.
“We feel we were fighting for that one point in the group with the usual guys, and it would have been a nice and tight battle.
Source: Autosport