'I would not like to feel that' - Ricciardo felt for Hamilton after title 'heartbreak'

Daniel Ricciardo has admitted to feeling sympathy towards Lewis Hamilton for the way events played out at last year's season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Hamilton looked to be on course for victory until a late decision to bring the Safety Car in and allow the lapped cars between the two title contenders to pass saw the Mercedes driver pipped to the post by Red Bull's Max Verstappen, taking full advantage of his fresher tyres.

It saw Hamilton miss out on a record-breaking eighth title, with Verstappen winning the race and the Championship.

"All I knew at the time is Lewis had a relatively big lead," McLaren driver Ricciardo told Crash.net.

"It looked like it was going to be wrapped up, and then with one lap to go, there was a restart, and I knew Max had pitted for fresher tyres, and I don't think Lewis could have pitted, so I was just like 'wow'.

"At that time, I really just felt for Lewis. He was laps away [from winning the title], and then through this, he couldn't pit, and then he was a bit of a sitting duck with one lap to go.

"It's not often you put yourself in another driver's shoes," added Ricciardo. "But for whatever reason, I was putting myself in his shoes that night, probably because I was seeing it all unfold in front of me. I was like, 'I would not like to feel that – that's some real heartbreak'."