Ricciardo regrets “a flaw in the rules” at the relaunch of the Brazilian GP

It is rare to see Daniel Ricciardo be frustrated and lose his legendary smile. However, in Brazil, the Australian was somewhat annoyed by his Grand Prix. From the first turn, the driver Alpha Tauri hit a wheel that had come loose from the Williams byAlexander albon in a clash with Kevin Magnussen. The tire hit and broke the rear wing of the AT03. Returning to the pits before the red flag was waved, the Aussie thought the race was over... before his team repaired the damaged wing and put him back on track.

Problem: the race management decided that all the drivers who had returned their car in their garage for repair – namely Daniel Ricciardo and Oscar piastri – had to start from the pits, without the possibility of recovering their lap despite the display of the red flag. A decision which spoiled the race for the two Australians, who rode the entire event one lap behind and without any real stakes. Enough to provoke the frustration of the eight-time Grand Prix winner.

“I think it highlighted a flaw or something in the rules because I didn't feel like we had a lap of the race, and I was already a lap behind, confided Daniel Ricciardo. Oscar and I were victims of this today. Okay, there were only two of us, but if 15 cars are damaged and have to do what we did, are they going to start a race with 15 cars a lap down? I do not believe that. So I think they (the race directors) need to be a little more open-minded. So it was frustrating. »

Points were possible, says Ricciardo

A disappointment all the greater as the AlphaTauri had an excellent pace at Interlagos, as evidenced by the points scored by Yuki tsunoda during the Sprint and during the Grand Prix. “We were exceptionally fast today, emphasized the Perth native. We weren't always able to show it because we were a lap behind and had to, of course, not get in the way of Yuki's race or even the other cars around us. But the times we had some open air, especially towards the end, there were a few laps where I was able to show my speed and… it was frustratingly fast. »

From the perspective of the Manufacturers' Championship, this is a big shortfall for AlphaTauri: if the Italian team came back to just seven points behind Williams in the fight for 7th place, this gap could have been significantly smaller if Daniel Ricciardo had been able to fight in the peloton.

“I'm here to help the team reach 7th place in the championship and I felt like I could have contributed strongly to that today, it's just a shame that the rules are written the way they are at the moment and there doesn't seem to be any flexibility, regrets the person concerned. I do not want to say 'I could have, I would have, I should have', but our pace spoke and it would have allowed us to place ourselves well in the peloton. »

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