Ricciardo feels "screwed" and "hurt" after losing Monaco win

Having started from pole and leading the early stint of the race, Ricciardo changed from wets to intermediates during his first stop, dropping behind Lewis Hamilton, who had stayed out on wets.

He caught up with Hamilton and, as the Briton opted to come in for dry tyres first, Ricciardo looked set to retake the lead, going quicker than the Mercedes driver before stopping on his next lap.

However, Red Bull mechanics were not ready for the Aussie and, with a slow stop, Ricciardo gave up the lead again, forced to follow Hamilton home until the chequered flag.

After the race, his radio comment was broadcast, Ricciardo telling his team: "Just save it, nothing you could say could make it any better, just save it."

"I didn't make the call"

Cutting a decisively gloomy figure on the podium, Ricciardo said in the post-race interviews: "I don't even want to comment on the race, to be honest. Thanks for the fans, thanks for sticking out.

"From the outside, we put on a show but it shouldn't have been as exciting as it was – two weekends in a row I have been screwed.

"I was called in the box, I didn't make the call. They should have been ready. It hurts, I don't have anything else to say.

"We had the speed, in the wet, pulled away, pitted for inters and put ourselves in a race with Lewis, which we didn't need to be in. I felt I was quickest in all conditions, but second place doesn't show much for it."

Race win handed to Mercedes - Marko

Red Bull's Helmut Marko conceded that the team gave up a likely win - and said all he can do "is apologise".

"We presented it to Mercedes," he said. "Unfortunately, a lot of misunderstanding and not the right communication.

“We will investigate and find out [what happened], but it was a human mistake.

“We will check it, make an investigation, and then we can tell you more. I feel really sorry [for Ricciardo], all we can do is apologise to him.”