Daniel Ricciardo’s day at the Brazilian Grand Prix was over before it even began.
There was huge drama at the Interlagos circuit in Sao Paulo as two drivers crashed out in the opening lap with the incident sending debris all over the track — ruining Ricciardo’s race.
That crash came after Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc went into the wall on the formation lap when he suffered a hydraulics failure.
It was absolute carnage when the race was eventually able to re-start with Alex Albon making contact with Nico Hulkenberg at Turn 1.
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That contact pushed him into the other Haas of Kevin Magnussen.
The second impact was far greater, sending both cars into the barrier and out of the race.
Debris and multiple tyres were sent flying across the track and Ricciardo found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time with a rogue tyre bouncing across the track collecting his back wheel and rear wing.
He was forced into the pits to repair the damage before the race re-started 30 minutes after the Magnussen crash.
Aussie Oscar Piastri also took damage from the scattered debris and needed to pit.
Both were then given the awful news before the re-start that they would need to start from pit lane a lap behind the rest of the field.
Ricciardo was absolutely seething about the verdict from FIA stewards and gave them a serve on his team radio after crossing the finish line.
“I could rant and explain how f***ing s*** these rules are, but we all know it,” he said.
“So sorry for you guys. You did a great job repairing the car.”
He went on to say: “Just because I’m an arsehole, thanks FIA”.
Ricciardo and Piastri never recovered from the blow and were left racing each other all alone, ultimately finishing the race 13th and 14th — the very last cars that were able to finish the race with six cars unable to make it to finish line.
In another gut punch for Ricciardo and Piastri, the pair never got the yellow flag they needed to get back on the lead lap. Ricciardo finished more than 43 seconds behind the car in front of him.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda finished P9.
At least the Australians were able to finish the race — unlike Albon, Leclerc, Magnussen, Valtteri Bottas, Zhou Guanyu and Mercedes’ George Russell.
Leclerc was perhaps the most miserable of the lot.
Leclerc, who had started second on the grid, crashed on the formation lap in what David Croft called a “disaster” for Ferrari, with it later revealed he had a hydraulics issue, Sky Sports reports.
“Why am I so f***ing unlucky?” he repeatedly said over the team radio.
Leclerc was not in the field after he lost control of his Ferrari on the formation-up lap before the initial start, which meant he was not allowed to rejoin even if his car could have been repaired.
When the race resumed, it was Max Verstappen that got the best of Lando Norris on the re-start and then went on to cruise to another victory.
Verstappen eased to a record-increasing 17th win of the season with victory in Sao Paulo ahead of Norris.
There was a tense battle for the third spot on the podium with Fernando Alonso keeping Red Bull Sergio Perez at bay by just 0.053 seconds.
Perez passed Alonso on Lap 70 but the former world champion took the place back on the final lap of the race as the pair made a thrilling dart to the line on the final straight.
Lance Stroll finished fifth in the second Aston Martin ahead of Carlos Sainz of Ferrari.
Seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton finished eighth for Mercedes.
For Verstappen, it was his 52nd career win, lifting him one clear of four-time champion Alain Prost on the list of all-time winners.
“It was really good,” said Verstappen. “A well-executed race by the team, perfect pit-stops and well done I think. I had two good starts which was very important and then managed the tyres.”
For Norris it was a seventh podium this year and 13th of his career, the most by any driver without recording a victory.
“I couldn’t have done any better,” Norris said. “P2 is as good as it gets nowadays. So, I’m happy with that. Max always had an answer.” Alonso held off Perez after the two swapped places twice in the closing laps. “It was like 30 laps of pressure from Checo! When he passed me two laps from the end, I thought a podium was not possible and it was gone, but I got it back,” said the Spaniard.
Brazilian Grand Prix result
1) Max Verstappen, Red Bull
2) Lando Norris, McLaren
3) Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin
4) Sergio Perez, Red Bull
5) Lance Stroll, Aston Martin
6) Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
7) Pierre Gasly, Alpine
8) Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
9) Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri
10) Esteban Ocon, Alpine
— with AFP
Originally published as Pure misery for Daniel Ricciardo after drama in Brazil
