Daniel Ricciardo’s Brazilian Grand Prix came to an early end today after a front suspension failure forced him to retire from the race, ending his 15-race run of top ten finishes.
After qualifying ninth in Brazil, Ricciardo made a good start to get into a battle with Red Bull teammate Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, which eventually settled down as the race wore on. Running net seventh, the Australian looked set to claim a good haul of points until the problem emerged on lap 40 of the race.
“When I went into turn one, the car went to the right and I knew there was a problem,” Ricciardo explained. “I came into the pits and the team told me it was suspension failure and we retired.
“It had been a bit of a boring race, we were close to everyone but not close enough to have many fight. I would have liked to have had a bit more fun, but it didn’t really happen.
“It’s a shame, but I had a pretty good run until now, so I can’t be too greedy. It would be good to finish on the podium at the final race of the season.”
Ricciardo has been one of the breakout stars in Formula 1 this year, claiming three victories in a year that has been dominated by Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.
Red Bull team boss Christian Horner said that the root of the issue will be investigated following the race, but he was pleased with the end result as, with Vettel finishing fifth, the team secured second place in the constructors’ championship.
“With Daniel, unfortunately we had a front suspension issue,” Horner said. “He thought it might be a front brake, but in the end it turned out to be the front suspension that had failed so we need to investigate what happened.
“Despite all that, we managed to secure second in the constructors’ championship which, considering where we started the season, is a huge credit to the entire team for the fight back that we put up this year. We now look forward to the last race in Abu Dhabi.”
