Daniel Ricciardo’s nightmare in F1 return as teammate rubs salt in the wound

Daniel Ricciardo had a nightmare race in his return from injury as his teammate rubbed salt in the wound at the USA Grand Prix.

Matthew Sullivan

2 min read

October 23, 2023 - 10:53AM

Daniel Ricciardo had a bit of a shocker at the USA GP.

In his first Formula One race since returning from a broken hand, it’s fair to say Daniel Ricciardo endured a nightmare at the United States Grand Prix.

Ricciardo made a strong start after starting 15th, climbing up to 10th place and as high seventh as a result of some pit stops and early retirements around him.

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But sadly that’s as good as it got for the veteran, who crossed the line 17th — dead last out of the drivers who finished the race.

AlphaTauri decided to bring Ricciardo in for a very late pit stop, which meant he delayed Lewis Hamilton from making a late charge at Max Verstappen for the race victory.

Verstappen won his 15th race of the season ahead of Hamilton and Lando Norris.

AlphaTauri’s one-stop strategy didn’t pay off for Ricciardo.

“The one-stop strategy wasn’t working. He’s put the soft tyres on and just set the fastest lap of the race,” Martin Brundle said in commentary.

On-board footage also showed AlphaTauri’s pit crew extracting a chunky piece of debris from the front of Ricciardo’s car that certainly wouldn’t have helped his race pace.

look at that piece of debris they pulled out pic.twitter.com/ZXF5jQE8q1
— Far|na (@ricsfavflour) October 22, 2023

Jody Egginton, Technical Director at AlphaTauri, said Ricciardo “picked up damage to brake duct parts, resulting in a significant loss of aero load and aero balance, meaning he was unable to run at the pace he was capable of and fell back into the chasing pack”.

Daniel Ricciardo has a rough race in Austin. Photo: Chris Graythen/Getty Images/AFP.

The late pit stop allowed Ricciardo to record the fastest lap of the race but in a cruel twist, his teammate Yuki Tsunoda snagged the championship point by beating Ricciardo’s lap time on the very last lap.

Only drivers who finish in the top 10 can get an extra point for fastest lap.

Tsunoda finished 10th to claim two championship points, while Ricciardo walked away empty handed.

Point and a fastest lap, Yuki Tsunoda is not interested in your Ricciardo comeback narrative
— Adi ðŸ (@2Adi_P) October 22, 2023

Why is Ricciardo on softs and pounding in fastest laps right now? Is that to stop Hamilton getting an extra point towards P2 in the championship??

But of course... they're 2 completely separate teams... ðŸ™„ðŸ™„
— The Engineer (@Engineer_LXIX) October 22, 2023

It was a brutal way to end the race for Ricciardo, who admitted after Saturday’s Sprint he had a bit of “race rust” after missing five grands prix with injury.

“I don’t like saying it because I’m very experienced but this year not so experienced… but a bit of race rust,” he said.

It was also a day to forget for the other Australian on the grid as Oscar Piastri was forced to retire from the race in the early stages.

The rookie had a superb start but suffered damage to his car’s radiator as a result of an accidental collision with Alpine’s Esteban Ocon at the start.