DANIEL Ricciardo left the Monaco Grand Prix frustrated despite picking up points in the principality.

The Australian finished ninth in his Enstone-prepared Renault, but was unable to make the most of a strong start.

Ricciardo, who qualified sixth, came out in traffic after pitting early under the safety car and crossed the line tenth, before he was moved up a place as Haas driver Romain Grosjean was handed a five-second penalty for crossing the pit lane exit line.

Although he picked up two points, the Renault driver was left rueing a missed opportunity.

“It was a very frustrating race,” he said.

“We had a great start, jumped Kevin (Magnussen) on the outside for fifth and had a strong turn one. Then we pitted under the safety car, which is where we missed out.

“We definitely could have done better and got a great result as we had all the cards in our hand.”

Teammate Nico Hulkenberg finished 14th, with his race hindered by an early incident involving Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, which resulted in a right rear puncture.

“Nothing went our way,” said the German.

Despite his penalty, Grosjean was surprised to score a point for Banbury-based Haas after starting 13th.

He said: “It’s a better result than we were expecting – that’s for sure.

“We did our best, we tried. All-in-all though, it was Saturday that cost us good points.”

Teammate Magnussen, who started fifth, had enjoyed a good weekend until the race.

He pitted under the safety car and finished 14th after being handed a five-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage over Racing Point’s Sergio Perez.

Magnussen said: “I don’t really know what happened, it wasn’t the race we were hoping for. It was a perfect weekend until the race.”

For the first time this season, Grove-based Williams were not the final two cars to finish.

George Russell was 15th and left Monaco feeling encouraged.

He said: “It was a really enjoyable race and I pushed myself to the limit.

“My engineer came on the radio and said you are lapping the same pace as the leaders.”

Teammate Robert Kubica, who was hit by Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi, was 18th.

The Pole added: “He hit me at Rascasse so I lost a lot of time there, but that’s just how it is.”