Daniel Ricciardo’s home grand prix hasn’t gone according to plan as of now, as in the opening lap of the Australian GP, he ended up losing his front wing.
Ricciardo got squeezed out after lights out, forced to run on the grass and uncannily lost his front wing, without any contact with any driver.
It was the Albert Park surface that caused his front wing to come out, something that would be a worrying factor for Renault, going into the 2019 season.
Check out the video(Look for Ricciardo in the background on the left of your screen):
Daniel Ricciardo didnt wanna drive on the road… that crowd groan #F1 #AusGP pic.twitter.com/1L2jVS8KWP
— corbpie (@corbpie) March 17, 2019
LAP 1/58
Bottas sprints straight past Hamilton into the lead! ⬆️
But it’s a nightmare start for Ricciardo, who loses his front wing 💔#AusGP 🇦🇺 #F1 pic.twitter.com/gE73nLtpqj
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 17, 2019
Daniel Ricciardo took a leap of faith and decided to move on from Red Bull to Renault half way through last season.
He has admitted that Red Bull’s favouritism for Max Verstappen did have a role to play in his decision, but wasn’t the sole deciding factor.
Ricciardo was aware that he was moving to a midfield team and would be short on pace in the 2019 season, but the Renault data helped him believe that the team and the car had potential to make something happen when the 2021 regulations kick in.
The first grand prix of the season has gotten off to an exciting start, with Valtteri Bottas coming out in front after Rurn 1, despite having started in P2(behind his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton).
Ricciardo retiring as his old team mate jumps into 3rd. That must hurt. #F1 #AusGP
— Matt Burfield (@matthewburfield) March 17, 2019
Ricciardo wasn’t meant to race at home 🇦🇺 #AusGP #F1
— Keamogetswe Bokaba (@Keamo_Bokaba) March 17, 2019
fuck ricciardo retired fml
— jules ➰ (@lostinmalec) March 17, 2019
Bugger! Not having Daniel Ricciardo on my Fantasy F1 next week, and now Grosjean is out.. 😩🏁
— PilotTris (@PilotTris) March 17, 2019
CROOKED Cyril has to be FUMING! Daniel Ricciardo has retired from his home Grand Prix! Sad!
— Formula One Donald (@TrumpFormula) March 17, 2019
Literally our least favourite thing to tweet ever. Daniel’s car is wheeled back into the garage. We’re having to retire him as a precaution following his incident earlier. #RSspirit #AusGP pic.twitter.com/ASfvQytI8k
— Renault F1 Team (@RenaultF1Team) March 17, 2019
The Finn has maintained his track position for a large part of the race until now, and having pitted later than Lewis, he would be hoping that he can continue like this until the chequered flag.
Article updated: Sadly, Renault have retired Daniel Ricciardo from the Australian Grand Prix. This is Ricciardo’s third retirement from his home grand prix. When he lost his front wing, there had been a little more damage to Ricciardo’s car, and hence he couldn’t get the kind of performance that he should have from his car
