Two turns and that’s it: “the worst thing ever” for a disillusioned Ricciardo at Suzuka

When Yuki tsunoda continues its momentum of good performances, Daniel Ricciardo continues on its path of poor performance. The Australian was counting on the Japanese Grand Prix, from which he qualified in a promising 11th place, to finally launch his season... it was a failure. His race only lasted a few hectometers, or two turns to be more precise.

After a difficult start, Daniel Ricciardo came to settle Alexander albon at the start of turn 3, causing an unfortunate collision between the two drivers who ended their race in the tire wall. A racing incident was judged by the stewards, due to the lack of visibility of the RB driver, which however caused the red flag to be deployed on the first lap to repair the tire wall.

RED FLAG 🚩

Incident between Albon and Ricciardo at the start 💥
Both drivers are doing well!#JapaneseGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/Uxj1eeQs45

— CANAL+ F1® (@CanalplusF1) April 7, 2024

Ricciardo still at zero

Back in the paddock, Daniel Ricciardo gave his point of view on this accident. “Me and Yuki had a pretty poor start on the mediums and all the cars behind on the soft tires got us quite easily, we were just fighting for grip, explains the Perth native. In the second corner it calmed down a bit, but I remember coming out of the second corner with little grip and I remember a Aston Martin on my left. So I was watching that car and when I started to drift [to the right] to open the third turn, and I felt Alex [Albon]. »

“I saw his on-board camera and he had a much better exit after the second corner. I don't even know if he wanted to be there, but he could see me going a little to the side and I think there was a little confusion and it ended that way. So it’s a short Sunday, unfortunately”, he added, annoyed.

Daniel Ricciardo experienced this Japanese Grand Prix as a spectator, watching his teammate Yuki Tsunoda finish in the points again. The Australian, whose counter is still stuck at zero after four rounds, experienced this abandonment in the first round as “the worst thing”. Obviously, beyond the simple abandonment, it is also another missed opportunity to prove one's value to the clan Red Bull who, it is said, is (already) starting to lose patience with his pilot...

ALSO READ > Dominant, Verstappen puts the Melbourne “incident” behind him

@autohebdo.mag

Daniel Ricciardo finished their JapaneseGP after just a few meters… racing incident for you? F1 racing motorsport race fyp

♬ original sound – AUTOhebdo – AUTOhebdo