Ricciardo’s race grinds to a halt only laps from the finish
Monday, 12 September 2022
An oil leak forced the Australian to retire.
Daniel Ricciardo had a strong start off the line holding P3 during the early stages of the Italian Grand Prix.
"It was nice to start at the front and get a decent start,” said Ricciardo.
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“Lando looked like he had a poor start so I got ahead of him and it was nice to be in third there, but I saw quickly Max (Verstappen) was right behind me and he was obviously on another level.”
Ricciardo spent most of the race in the top 10, leading a DRS train of drivers. Pierre Gasly was his nearest competitor who wasn’t able to get by.
“I was just trying to set a rhythm in fourth, but we weren’t quick enough. I felt like I was doing a good job to hold off Gasly but didn’t have much more to show than that.”
With six laps remaining, Ricciardo’s engine switched off and the Australian pulled off to the side, causing the safety car that the race eventually finished under.
“It was a busy race, trying to hold on, do what I could and then yeah, felt like we got a little bit of a rhythm on the Hards with 10-15 laps to go but then the engine just switched off out of Turn Six.”
“I had to pull over straight away because it was stuck in gear and so I couldn’t roll to a safe place. It would have been nice to get some points but it wasn’t meant to be today."
The teams have several weeks off before heading to Singapore on 30 Sep – 2 Oct.
NOOOOOOO DANIEL 💔#ItalianGP #F1
— F1 Australian Grand Prix (@ausgrandprix) September 11, 2022
