Both Infiniti Red Bull Racing drivers finished inside the points in Malaysia, but ninth and tenth was not what Daniil Kvyat nor Daniel Ricciardo were hoping for after starting fourth and fifth on the grid.
Both drivers had brake issues, with the temperatures rising higher than their optimum working levels, and both could be seen with brake dust flying off their wheels under braking.
Kvyat finally made his Red Bull debut in Malaysia after missing out in Australia, and was able to pass team-mate Ricciardo with just a handful of laps remaining to take ninth. He also had to recover from a spin when the Force India of Nico Hulkenberg turned him around on Lap 27, losing him a number of seconds.
“We took the maximum out of the situation today,” revealed Kvyat. “We are lacking some pace and need to catch up, I am confident that the team can do it; it’s a challenge and we have to face it with a strong mind.
“Fighting for P9 and P10 is not what we want, we struggled today and we need to work out why.”
After hoping to maintain his high grid position in the race, Ricciardo struggled throughout, and ended up a lap behind the race winner for the second race in a row and down in tenth place behind his team-mate. He took damage to the front wing early and suffered with his brakes all afternoon.
“A really frustrating race,” said Ricciardo. “I was ready for a fight going into the race and hoping for something special – but it wasn’t to be!
“I had a bit of contact on the first lap, which hurt us and then we had a few issues throughout the race, which we had to manage. It took a long time to pass cars as we didn’t have the pace and we had some problems with the brakes, which didn’t make our afternoon easy. It was a good job by Seb, a great drive from him.”
