‘Scary’ moment which nearly derailed Daniel Ricciardo’s Dutch Grand Prix

Daniel Ricciardo’s poor season continued at the Dutch Grand Prix, where his car was riddled with issues and nearly didn’t start the race.

Daniel Ricciardo just can’t take a trick at the moment and his season is starting to slip away from him.

The Australian finished 11th and out of the points at the Dutch Grand Prix, sliding down one place from his starting position in a race where nothing seemed to go right.

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Red Bull’s Max Verstappen led from start to finish to win his home Grand Prix and regain the lead in the drivers’ championship.

After a promising performance in qualifying, Ricciardo would have been hoping for at least a top-10 finish.

But his car appeared to be in disarray before the race even started.

On the warm-up lap to the grid, commentators noticed the wheels of Ricciardo’s McLaren spinning too fast and smoke billowing out of it as well.

Then he avoided what would have been an unmitigated disaster by a matter of seconds.

Just moments before the race began, Ricciardo could be seen frantically waving his arm around, as if he was trying to quickly get the attention of his team.

It was later revealed he couldn’t even get his car into first gear and he only just managed to get his car up and running seconds before race lights went out.

Daniel Ricciardo couldn’t get out of first gear when the race was about to start.

“He was in a bit of a flap I think at the beginning, quite literally waving his arms around,” former F1 driver and Sky Sports expert commentator Anthony Davidson explained.

“He couldn’t get into first gear. He’s ready to abort the start here and it’s just seconds away from the lights going on.

“He finally gets into first (gear) but he’s got this message on the steering wheel.

“Anyway, the lights are about to come on and he can then compose himself get back into business.

“But that was a pretty scary moment for Daniel Ricciardo, he felt quite alone there I should imagine.

“Didn’t even get onto the radio, loses places going into Turn 1, he then uses a bit of kerb on the inside, then he goes around the outside of Turn 3.

“But real tense times at the start as you can imagine.”

The drama with his car didn’t end there.

After passing Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi to move into P9, other drivers noticed Ricciardo’s McLaren had started to puff smoke and drop oil onto the track.

Former F1 world champion Jenson Button thought he might have had to retire from the race.

“I don’t think that car is going to be running for too much longer,” he said.

Ricciardo’s McLaren was all over the shop at the start. (Photo by Lars Baron/Getty Images)

But thankfully for Ricciardo, McLaren deemed there was nothing wrong with his car and he will be able to continue the race as usual at solid pace.

“McLaren don’t seem to think Ricciardo’s problem is a race-stopper,” Sky Sports commentator Karun Chandhok said.

Ricciardo’s passing move on the first lap was the sole highlight of his race, in which he was lapped by the leaders.

The 32-year-old struggled for pace for the entire race and was easily passed by his McLaren teammate Lando Norris in the latter stages — practically letting him overtake without a fight.

The ease with which Norris passed him was symbolic of Ricciardo’s poor season and the gap between the two drivers.

Another low moment came just afterwards when Sergio Perez overtook Ricciardo relatively easily.

He brushed the Aussie off like a fly, barking to Red Bull team radio: “Let’s go! Who’s next?”

Norris started from 13th on the grid but managed to work his way through the field and finish 10th — and yet again in front of Ricciardo.

Ricciardo just can’t take a trick. (Photo by John Thys - Pool/Getty Images)

2016 world champion Nico Rosberg said the result would be demoralising for Ricciardo.

“Strange one for Daniel,” he said.

“It’s a big setback because he started so strongly in qualifying and then Q3, something wasn’t going well, his tyres set or whatever so he was only 10th.

“Then in the race, he just dropped back and back. So yeah, that’s a disappointing one, especially with Lando coming back again so strongly.”

Ricciardo will get a chance to bounce back at next weekend’s Italian Grand Prix.

Dutch Grand Prix Top 10

1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)

2. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)

3. Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes)

4. Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri)

5. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)

6. Fernando Alonso (Alpine)

7. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)

8. Sergio Perez (Red Bull)

9. Esteban Ocon (Alpine)

10. Lando Norris (McLaren)