Action from the Chinese Grand Prix

SUNDAY’S Chinese Grand Prix started better than Daniel Ricciardo could ever have imagined. Then, on lap four, it all suddenly went wrong.

F1 Grand Prix of China - Qualifying

DANIEL Ricciardo initially looked to have escaped unscathed from a chaotic opening at the Chinese Grand Prix on Sunday afternoon. Then disaster struck.

Once the lights went out, calamity ensued and the grid placements that were decided during Saturday’s qualifying were thrown into disarray.

Starting from second, Ricciardo charged to the front ahead of Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg. But behind them, it was absolute chaos.

Both Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel’s Ferraris sustained damage when they bumped into each other — the latter blaming Daniil Kvyat in his Red Bull for coming up too close on the inside, calling him a “madman” in radio transmission with his team.

Lewis Hamilton — starting from last place on the grid — was also forced to head into the pits after his car emerged worse for wear from the unexpected opening.

Just when Ricciardo would have been thanking his incredible luck for so many competitors suffering setbacks, he endured one of his own. On lap four he punctured his left rear tyre, and had to return to the pits for a new set of soft tyres.

“That is an absolute tragedy. Personal tragedy for Daniel Ricciardo,” said one commentator.

He plummeted back to the bottom of the field as the safety car was called for while all the debris from the opening stages was cleared from the track. It was reported his tyre incident may have been caused by stray pieces of damaged cars left on the track from lap one.

PROVISIONAL CLASSIFICATION just before the Safety Car was deployed... #ChineseGP pic.twitter.com/1riBp6XmGU

— Formula 1 (@F1) April 17, 2016

LAP CHART (after 10 laps) In other words, chaos...! #ChineseGP pic.twitter.com/i7ZnU1SVNz

— Formula 1 (@F1) April 17, 2016

He managed to recover slightly, scrambling his way back to 10th after 20 laps, before continuing to climb back up the leaderboard as he finished fourth behind teammate Kvyat. It was a remarkable comeback given the circumstances, but he will surely view the race as a missed opportunity.

It’s his third consecutive fourth-placed finish after ending the Australian and Bahrain Grand Prixs in the same position.

Speaking after the race, he described how awful he felt when the drama unfolded, but still remained upbeat about how he was able to come back from such a position.

“Coming through turns 11 and 12 I could feel the rear start to slide so I came on the radio straight away and said, ‘I think the rear is finished, the tyres are gone,’” said Ricciardo.

“As soon as I got on the straight I could feel the car start to wobble and I looked in the rear and could see the tyre was gone.

“Once the safety car came on that put us even further back which was a double whammy. It felt like getting punched in the stomach by a heavyweight.

“The second part of the race was one of the best races of my life.”

Later on Sunday night the man with the widest smile in sport joked about how his tyre problems came about.

Tore shit up today. Literally was driving too fast for the tyre 😄

— Daniel Ricciardo (@danielricciardo) April 17, 2016

In all seriousness it was a tough one to take but so many positives came out of the race & all I can say is I'm coming 😉

— Daniel Ricciardo (@danielricciardo) April 17, 2016

Big ups to the team @redbullracing we keep chipping away at it! Thanks for all the good vibes from media & fans too was an exciting race

— Daniel Ricciardo (@danielricciardo) April 17, 2016

Things could have been so much better.

Nico Rosberg claimed his third straight win of the year to carry on the fantastic form he showed at the end of 2015 when he won the final few races of the season. Sebastian Vettel also recovered from his early problems to claim second spot on the podium.

Hamilton made up significant ground to come seventh.