I FEEL BAD
A
tough week for Red Bull driver
Daniel Ricciardo ended in despair
as the home hero came to a stop
midway through the Australian Grand
Prix with smoke billowing out of his car.
Ricciardo’s hopes of a maiden
podium at Albert Park were already razor-
thin after a crash during qualifying on
Saturday, which forced a gearbox change
and resulted in a five-place penalty,
leaving him 15th on the grid.
But even getting to the grid proved
beyond his Red Bull, which stopped with
a gearbox sensor problem as he lapped
the lakeside circuit before the start.
Ricciardo exited the track fuming but
was soon lowering himself into the seat
again as technicians frantically worked
on his car in the garage as the clock
ticked down to the start.
He eventually joined the race from
the pit-lane two laps behind the other
cars but lasted just 25 laps before his
car finally ground to a terminal halt at
turn three with an apparent fuel pressure
problem.
It takes a lot to wipe the smile from
the affable 27-year-old’s face but he cut a
grim figure in the garage as he watched
the rest of the race, won by Ferrari’s
Sebastian Vettel.
Having endured an exhausting
week of media and sponsor events as
his nation’s great hope in motor sport,
Ricciardo had little joy from his car during
practice and qualifying, and he could not
wait to be shot of Melbourne.