Horner: We as a team owe Daniel a huge apology

Daniel Ricciardo's huge trademark smile was missing as he stood on the podium after finishing second at the Monaco Grand Prix, which at one point he was dominating until his team made a blunder which not only cost him the lead but also victory in one of the greatest races in motorsport.

After the incident packed race Red Bull team principal Christian Horner acknowledged, "We as a team owe Daniel a huge apology today as we failed to support him in the way we did to get him to his first pole position yesterday."

"The delay at his pit stop cost him the lead and despite some excellent driving to get close to Lewis, he couldn’t get past, as is so often the case here in Monaco," added Horner.

Red Bull F1 consultant Helmut Marko had his say, "Unfortunately, a lot of misunderstanding and not the right communication. It was a human mistake. We will check it, make an investigation, and then we can tell you more. I feel really sorry, all we can do is apologise to him."

The error in Monte Carlo followed a bad strategy call, from the Red Bull pit wall, during the Spanish Grand Prix two weeks earlier, a mistake which ultimately cost Ricciardo victory in that race too.

While leading in Monaco, Ricciardo was called in for his pit stop, where a set of super softs were to be bolted on to his Red Bull. At that point calculations indicated that he would emerge at least 10 seconds ahead of Hamilton. But a glaring fumble ensued as mechanics scrambled around for the tyres that were not ready.

When the Red Bull driver finally emerged from the pits, Hamilton had just managed to get by and despite several attacks on the leader by Ricciardo, he ran out of steam and in the end he was left to wonder what might have been.

"I got called in and the tyres weren't ready. I didn't make the call," Ricciardo said during the podium interview. "I guess from the outside we put on a show but it shouldn't have been exciting. Two races in a row I've been screwed."

"The guys were running around like ducks, I don't like being up here and being miserable because I got a podium in F1 and it should be a good day but when it happens two races in a row it is hard to take."

"I felt it should have been me. If Barcelona wasn't clear, this one was crystal clear. I took Barcelona on the chin and this one I don't know if I can handle it as good as I did,," he lamented. "This is such a prestigious race. I may win it in the future but this one I will never get back so it hurts a lot more than any other."

As for what the team had to say about the mishap, the Australian was adamant, "Right now I don't want to hear it. I just want to get out of here. It will be talked about but now is not the time to do it. It hurts. It hurts. I don't have anything else to say to be honest."