US Grand Prix: Oscar Piastri, Daniel Ricciardo endure nightmare days in Formula One disaster

The US Grand Prix provided anything but the American Dream for Australians Daniel Ricciardo and Oscar Piastri, who suffered a double-blow on a dour day in Texas.

Oscar Piastri was forced to retire after just 11 laps. Picture: AFP

Oscar Piastri’s streak of podiums came to a crashing halt while Daniel Ricciardo endured a double-blow on a dour day for the Aussies at the United States Grand Prix in Texas.

Piastri appeared poised to continue his point scoring streak while Ricciardo, back for his first race since the Belgian Grand Prix July, threatened his own top-10 finish.

Instead Piastri failed to finish the race and Ricciardo crossed the line dead last among the drivers who completed the 56 laps at the Circuit of the Americas.

It came after a promising start for both drivers on Monday morning headlined by Piastri who – starting P10 on the grid – shot up into sixth place and was hot on the heels of eventual race winner Max Verstappen until disaster struck.

The McLaren rookie, who entered the race in a sparkling form having stood on the podium in both Japan and Qatar, made contact with Esteban Ocon during the early scramble for positions.

The Alpine driver was soon forced to retire from the race though Piastri appeared to have come out of the tussle untroubled.

Oscar Piastri was forced to retire after just 11 laps. Picture: AFP

But only a few laps later the call came for Piastri to return to the pits and retire the car after data showed his engine had started to overheat – likely as a result of the early contact with Ocon.

“It didn’t seem like a massive incident – just a bit of a touch – but I think it’s broken one of the radiators, so the engine was getting very hot,” Piastri said.

“When the engine is overheating on lap 10 it’s not going to do another 45 laps.

“I was surprised there was damage, but it is what it is.”

It was a cruel way for Piastri to bow out of the race after his promising start – made worse by the fact his teammate Lando Norris went on to feature on the podium, behind Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton.

And Piastri might have finished even higher, given Hamilton and Charles Leclerc were later disqualified from the race due to a technical breach.

It marked Piastri’s third DNF of his debut Formula One season.

Piastri had been making steady progress early in the race before his car failed him. Picture: Getty

Meanwhile Ricciardo, returned from a broken hand for his first F1 action in more than a month, began the race in P14 but found himself fighting for a points finish after a stellar start to his favourite Grand Prix on the calendar.

The veteran was tracking ahead of teammate Yuki Tsunoda and got as high as seventh after the leaders made their early pit stops.

But as all eyes tracked the battle between Verstappen, Norris and Hamilton for the race win, Ricciardo began to drop down the order.

There was some head scratching when AlphaTauri called him into the pits late in the race – pushing him to the back of the field – to bolt on soft tyres and attempt a fastest lap.

Daniel Ricciardo also had a rough day in Texas. Picture: Getty

During the pit stop, on board vision from Ricciardo showed an engineer retrieving a large chunk of debris from the front of the Aussie’s car which had previously gone unnoticed on the race coverage.

Ricciardo was unleashed and took the fastest lap from Lewis Hamilton, only to lose it to teammate Yuki Tsunoda at the end.

Ricciardo experienced car troubles, and the removal of some mystery debris. Picture: Getty

It added insult to injury for the West Australian, given his teammate – handed a better race strategy and not forced to pit late – finished P10 and doubled his points total with the fastest lap.

“Yeah we had some damage – we’re not sure what from,” Ricciardo said.

“After we put the hard (tyre) on I would say within a few laps we started dropping off really quickly.

“I guess we picked up some debris or something. I hope it was significant damage, because we lost a lot of pace … it was definitely a struggle after that. We weren’t in the race at all.”

It capped a disappointing return weekend for the 34-year-old, who has been linked to a 2024 Red Bull seat as a possible replacement for the under-fire Sergio Perez.

AlphaTauri team principal Franz Tost later explained the front-left brake duct on Ricciardo’s car broke during his first stint “affecting the aerodynamics heavily”.

“I have to apologise to Daniel because of this car failure, which meant he couldn’t show a better performance,” Tost said.

“I’m convinced in Mexico he will come back and hopefully the car will be reliable, allowing him to perform a strong qualifying and good race.”

Originally published as US Grand Prix: Oscar Piastri, Daniel Ricciardo endure nightmare days in Formula One disaster