At the end of the Brazilian GP, Daniel Ricciardo spoke out about the chaotic accident in turn 1, admitting that he had ducked in the cockpit to avoid being hit by a flying tyre, which detached from Alexander Albon’s Williams following the contact with Haas of Nico Hülkenberg.
The start of the Brazilian GP was quite turbulent and full of twists and turns: after Charles Leclerc’s didn’t complete the formation lap, two other drivers were out as well.
Immediately after the red lights went out, the race was interrupted with a red flag due to contact between the Haas of Nico Hülkenberg and the Williams of Alexander Albon, who collided on the run to turn 1. Kevin Magnussen had come across slightly and three cars into one area never ends well.
The rear tire of Albon’s car delaminated and its carcass was collected by the impact of Hulkenberg’s car before it took flight, falling on the rear wing of Daniel Ricciardo’s Alpha Tauri, damaging it significantly and compromising the Australian’s race.
Speaking about what happened, the former Red Bull driver recalled what he experienced in those few seconds, afraid of being hit on the helmet by the tyre.
“Obviously, I saw quite a big crash in front of me so there was lots of debris.
“I felt like I was getting through it and then I saw a tyre off the rim frisbeeing through the air and it started getting closer. So, I remember kind of also ducking my head and I didn’t feel anything hit me.
“I was happy. But then I checked my mirrors and I saw the rear wing was pretty much off, so I assume then the tyre hit the wing.
“That was obviously frustrating. Now you look back at those things and it’s nice that it didn’t hit me.”
Ricciardo returned to the garage at the end of the opening lap. They took advantage of the red flag to repair the rear wing and allow the Perth driver to return to the race, even with the handicap of going a lap down as the Safety Car went around on lap 2 before the red flag was thrown.
A handicap that the former McLaren himself spoke about after the race, wishing for some leeway in the rules.
“I think firstly it exposed a flaw or something in the rules because I didn’t feel like we’ve ever done a race lap and then you already start the race a lap later. Oscar and I were victims of that today.
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“Okay, there are two of us today, but if 15 cars had damage and they had to do what we did, would they start a race 15 cars a lap behind? I don’t think so. So I think they need to be a little more open minded. So it’s It was frustrating.”
When asked whether he felt lucky with the outcome of the accident, Ricciardo said that after the initial relief, the frustration with the damage he had took over.
“It’s funny, as soon as I realised it didn’t hit me, then I looked at the wing and I was like, ‘Dammit!’
“So, my immediate relief was turned into disappointment because I realised the race could be over.
“It’s funny, I think when you’re in that race mode, you kind of don’t even think about it.
“But now with hindsight, obviously I’m thankful that we all got out of it safe. All these things can always be worse. I’ll leave feeling certainly a little bit thankful for that.”
For Ricciardo, it was also frustrating that he was not able to maximize the potential of the AT04, which was really fast and at ease on the Interlagos track.
The 8-time Grand Prix winner posted some very strong times throughout the Grand Prix, culminating in setting the 3rd fastest lap on Sunday.
“We were, I mean, exceptionally fast today. We couldn’t always prove it because we were one lap behind and obviously had to play as a team, without obviously hindering Yuki’s race or even the other cars around us.
“But the times we achieved had some clear air, especially towards the end there were a couple of laps where I could show my speed and… frustratingly fast. So I feel sorry for the team.
It was ultimately a frustrating weekend for Ricciardo as he came away with no points when the potential was there for the Aussie to score a solid amount across the sprint and Grand Prix with the pace he had.
AlphaTauri trail Williams by seven points with two races to go.
“Me, my championship, I’m not in the championship hunt but I’m here to help the team get seventh in the championship and I felt I could have heavily contributed today, so it’s just a shame the rules written the way they are at the moment and there doesn’t seem to be any flexibility.
“I don’t want to be the story of ‘could have, would have, should have’ but at least on pace. Our pace spoke, hopefully, volumes that we could have moved through the field quite well, I believe.”
