"There are a lot of drivers here on the grid, but not everyone is willing to do what it takes to really fight for the top," says Ricciardo
Monday 13 June 2016 13:03, UK
Daniel Ricciardo believes he "deserves" a serious chance to compete for the Formula 1 world title.
The Red Bull driver also claims his hunger to become world champion is greater than some other drivers currently on the grid.
"There are a lot of drivers here on the grid, but not everyone is willing to do what it takes, or take the risk, to really fight for the top," Ricciardo told Sky Sports F1.
"Some are just happy to be here, which is fair enough, but my desire goes beyond that and I'm ready to take the next step."
Ricciardo returns to action at the Canadian GP this weekend for the first time since the disappointment of losing a likely victory at F1's showpiece Monaco GP to Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton after Red Bull made a mistake with tyres at his final pit stop.
Amid simmering frustration after the race two weeks ago, he told Sky Sports News HQ "I should be getting more rewarded" for his performances. Ricciardo last won a race in 2014.
The Australian was asked about his comments on Thursday in Montreal and reiterated his desire to fight for the sport's top prize.
"I feel I deserve a chance to fight for a title now," he said ahead of his 95th grand prix weekend.
"I feel that, I believe it. I feel I'm doing everything I can.
The 26-year-old admitted he needed "a few days to cool off" from the frustration of Monaco before speaking on the phone to his race engineer and team boss Christian Horner and has now "moved on" from the disappointment.
Red Bull have promised to implement "robust procedures" to avoid a repeat of the communication mix-up.
Ricciardo has welcomed the team's response to the blunder, although explained his post-race frustration had already been building up before the team's race-losing error.
"It was definitely a combination of a lot of things," he explained.
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"I was already quite frustrated after the first pit stop and then seeing Lewis go with the wets and do one less pit stop than us. I was already thinking the race was lost behind him, in a way. So that was the first one and then the second pit stop compounded everything.
"Then I guess it happened two weeks in a row and Monaco, we know how important track position is so it didn't matter if we had a soft or a supersoft. If we came out ahead of Lewis 99 per cent of time you're going to stay ahead of him no matter what the compound is."
Ricciardo sits behind only Mercedes pair Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton in the Drivers' Championship, but feels he would have won the last two races in Spain and Monaco had team decisions and strategy proved more favourable.
The Australian's three race wins from 2014 - the first of which came in Montreal - remain the only ones of his six-season F1 career and Ricciardo added: "There have guys who have been here a long time, for sure, but I came into the team when they were the best and unfortunately when I joined they were no longer the best.
"We have gone a few years and we haven't had that many opportunities, but in 2014 when they arose I felt like I took them. Then this year we've had a few and haven't been able to maximise it."
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Nonetheless, despite a series of missed opportunities, Ricciardo insisted a wedge had not been driven between himself and the team.
"For a few days I was upset and rueing some missed opportunities, but it's one of those things that happens. It's unfortunate it happened back to back [with Spain], that expanded the feelings and emotions a lot more. But I've moved on," he said.
"I've still obviously got a lot of faith in the team and I don't doubt things with them moving forward. For me, it's really important this weekend to execute a perfect weekend from my side and the team's side to get back on track."
