Daniel Ricciardo believes a moment of madness in the Singapore Grand Prix denied him a chance to better his second-placed result.
With likely champion-in-waiting Lewis Hamilton retired for the first time in the season, Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel and Ricciardo in his Red Bull duelled for the race lead.
Ricciardo's Red Bull showed better tyre life, while Vettel had superior speed, making for an intriguing contest.
A crash in the opening stages between Felipe Massa and Nico Hulkenberg frustrated the Australian to begin with.
Then on lap 38 of 61, a spectator turned track invader to bring about safety car conditions for the second time.
The Western Australian driver joked he "was tempted to swerve (and) clip" the invader, bemoaning the impact of the two safety cars.
"I think that sort of dictated the race," Ricciardo said.
"I'm not saying there were any guarantees but I think in the first stint we were coming on quite strong.
"I think this was our best chance of a win and we got close, so we can be proud of what we did."
Vettel was joined by other drivers in condemning the 27-year-old track invader, who was later arrested.
"Fortunately nothing happened to us or him. It's not what you want to see," Vettel said.
The second-placed finish is Ricciardo's best result in more than a year when he won the 2014 Belgian Grand Prix.
With five races to go, Hamilton leads the championship on 252 points, 41 ahead of Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg.
Ricciardo sits seventh with 73 points.
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