Daniel Ricciardo came off second-best with a Turn 1 collision

Daniel Ricciardo’s race at the Mexico City Grand Prix was over by the time the Australian made it out of the first corner, going on to finish out of the points in 12^th place.

For a moment after the lights went out and the drivers approached the first turn, it looked as though Ricciardo might have found a gap in the cars ahead, though it wasn’t to be. Valtteri Bottas quickly closed the line and was clipped by the front wing of Ricciardo.

The West Australian lost his front wing in the collision, and the Mercedes driver spun and fell to the back of the pack. Ricciardo and Bottas had to start from the back of the pack once the safety car came in.

“The first lap incident was about as painful as they get because your race is pretty much over from the start. I was in a tricky position because I know that if I didn’t go for it, someone else would have, and I’d probably have been swamped by other cars. At the end of the day, I think it’s just a lap one incident,” Ricciardo said after the race.

“The start was good, and those first few hundred metres were looking positive. I think we were potentially in P4, and in a split-second, it changes.

“That’s the nature of the beast, but these ones are pretty painful because you have to endure the race and hope something happens, but nothing really did.

“I was able to defend Bottas. Normally when you’re doing that, it’s for a good position, but we were both obviously at the back. The car was also damaged, and we had a chunk of downforce missing.”

A bit heart-breaking. For a few seconds, it looked awesome and then it looked pretty un-awesome. We’ll try to come back in Brazil.”

The incident was deemed a racing incident by the stewards. However, Ricciardo wasn’t able to make up enough places to score points.

McLaren had a tough race, with Lando Norris finishing 10^th and scoring the only point for the team. Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz scored solid points, moving to third in the constructors.

Max Verstappen extends his lead in the driver standings with 312.5 points, ahead of Lewis Hamilton in second with 293.5 and Bottas in third with 185 points.

The championship moves to Brazil for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix next weekend.

Well, that didn't go to plan...

An opening lap incident meant @danielricciardo had to settle for 12th at the #MexicoGP pic.twitter.com/SDYQOCy5iN

— F1 Australian Grand Prix (@ausgrandprix) November 7, 2021