Power loss takes Ricciardo out of Brazilian Grand Prix
Frustrated with the Saturday sprint race, Daniel Ricciardo had planned a Sunday comeback until a mechanical failure took him out of the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
"It was going OK!" said the McLaren F1 driver.
"We went forwards at the start, which was definitely one objective after yesterday."
"I wasn’t happy with how the sprint panned out for myself, so I was determined to make it better."
"We had some good battles, Ocon made a good move on me early in the race and I was able to get him back with pretty much the same move, so that felt good."
“After that, we were in the fight with Gasly, and with Ferrari as well."
"We knew they had to two-stop."
"I think they had a bit more pace but maybe through strategy we could've disrupted them."
Despite the on-track progress, it was once again a technical gremlin that took the Australian out of contention.
"…then we had a loss of power and had to retire the car."
"Definitely a shame, but it was a much more promising day than yesterday."
"We’ll take the positives from that, and we’ve got another chance next week."
Mechanical issues have plagued Ricciardo this year, with the Sao Paulo Grand Prix surprisingly his first retirement of the season.
McLaren engine suppliers Mercedes HPP have seen the factory team take multiple replacement engines, with Lewis Hamilton starting the race with a five-place penalty after changing engines in Brazil.
The papaya team is now 31.5 points behind Ferrari in the Constructors’ standings.
