Australian Grand Pix: Daniel Ricciardo's hopes destroyed after car breaks down before start
Australian Daniel Ricciardo's hopes of scoring a maiden Australian Grand Prix win were dashed before the race even got under way when his Red Bull Racer ground to a halt on the formation lap of the Albert Park circuit.
Ricciardo had a weekend to forget and this was the icing on the cake after he had crashed during qualifying and then been forced to take a five place grid penalty for changing his gearbox after it was damaged in that qualifying impact.
"Don't get me wrong it's been fun I just feel bad for everyone, the fans," Ricciardo said post-race.
"I believe there are more people here supporting me than the others and I'm sure they would have loved me to get out there and race."
Starting from 15th spot, the West Australian was warming up his car when there was an electronic failure and it ground to a halt, stuck in sixth gear.
Red Bull engineers scrambled to get the car back to the team's garage to try and work on the problem in a bid to get the car started before the race began.
He eventually exited the race on lap 29 due to a different issue.
"That was a separate issue and I think in the end that was something to do with fuel pressure, but basically it just switched off. it was just instant. There was no procedure I could do to stay out there," Ricciardo said.
"I think the more laps we get with this car the more we are learning. It was still valuable track time ... maybe we can learn something from this race today and look forward."
During the pre-race drama, stewards had told Red Bull that if they could get Ricciardo's car going it would be allowed to begin from pit lane when the other 19 cars had got away.
But sadly for Ricciardo and his army of fans his pit crew could not quite achieve the impossible in time, and as the field sped away Ricciardo could only look on and wonder what might have been. He eventually got the car going and joined the field, but two laps after the race started as his team opted to use the race as an impromptu testing session.
One of his team engineers was overhead saying on team radio: "Go on Daniel, get stuck in and have fun."
theage.com.au
Michael Lynch, The Age's expert on soccer, has had extensive experience of high level journalism in the UK and Australia. Michael has covered the Socceroos through Asia, Europe and South America in their past three World Cup campaigns. He has also reported on Grands Prix and top class motor sport from Asia and Europe. He has won several national media awards for both sports and industry journalism.
A journalist since 1984, Andrew worked as a reporter and executive producer with ABC Radio News and in production roles at the BBC and other London mastheads before joining The Age full-time. A Walkley finalist in 2007 for best three headlines, and a Melbourne Press Club Quill winner in that category, he led the Sunday Age team to major Australian Sports Commission awards in 2012 and 2014 for best National sporting coverage. As an occasional columnist and writer, he’s a handy in-and-under type, albeit with limited skills by hand and foot.
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