Australia’s Daniel Ricciardo has finished out of the points at the Qatar Formula 1 Grand Prix, the third race in a row he’s failed to finish in the top-10.
It’s the first time the 32-year-old has been out of the points for three straight races since his disastrous first season with Renault in 2019.
Following the highs of his Italian Grand Prix win in September, Ricciardo has finished in the points only twice in the six races since.
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“Unfortunately, a pretty disappointing end to the triple-header today,” he said after his 12th place finish in Qatar, behind race-winner Lewis Hamilton.
“We ran into some issues with fuel, and we had to save, which dictated our race. So, not sure what happened but we obviously need to look into it.”
With just two races remaining in the season, Ricciardo remains eighth in the championship, although realistically he’s too fair behind seventh-placed Carlos Sainz to challenge the Ferrari driver.
Ricciardo’s slow-down lap gives an interesting insight into his mindset, with his race-engineer Tom Stallard giving the Australian a host of instructions in terms of settings on the car, all of which Ricciardo followed without a single word in reply.
“We’ve got some investigating to do,” Stallard said, finally drawing a response.
“Understood, let’s discuss once we’re back,” Ricciardo said curtly.
Speaking after the race, he was keen to forget about the last three weeks.
“I’m looking forward to moving on. I think a weekend off is necessary for everyone involved,” Ricciardo said.
“We’ll debrief now, try to understand the issues today and then we’ve got some simulator time next week to get ready for the last two. Let’s finish strong.”
McLaren boss Andreas Seidl said he wasn’t sure what caused Ricciardo’s problems.
“For Daniel, it was always going to be tough to get into the points from P14. He drove a very strong first stint that pulled him up into contention, but then had to save an unusually high amount of fuel,” he said.
“We’ll have to investigate why that was required on his side.”
It caps a horror three-race stretch for McLaren, with Lando Norris finishing 10th, 10th and 9th in that period.
The team is now 39.5 points behind Ferrari in the race for third in the championship, a deficit they’re unlikely to overhaul, although they’re well clear of Alpine in fifth.
Regardless, the difference between third and fourth in the championship will see a multi-million dollar drop in prizemoney for McLaren.
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