Daniel Ricciardo says he is expecting to receive a substantial grid penalty for the Mexican Grand Prix, after an engine failure forced him out of proceedings in Austin.
Ricciardo spent the early stages of the race locked in a fierce battle over third with Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas, and lunged at the Finn into Turn 1 in an attempt to wrestle away the position.
Ricciardo stopped earlier than his rivals in a bid to use the undercut but the impact of his strategy was never seen, for he pulled to the side of the track due to an engine failure.
“It’s obviously never nice to be out of the race early,” rued Ricciardo.
“There were a lot of elbows out and you could see a lot of contact, so I wouldn’t have suspected it would be due to a mechanical issue but of course it was disappointing to finish early.
“I think I tried to get the most out of it and the laps I raced were fun but also frustrating.
“I felt that, especially earlier on, we were quicker than Valtteri, but I always had to come from so far back that it was never going to be an easy move.
“I tried a lot of times to make it stick but could never quite manage it.
“I wasn’t going to drive behind him all weekend wondering what could have been, so I don’t have any regrets with the moves I tried.
“It’s just frustrating to not continue that battle. I did enjoy it out there though. Every time I tried to overtake Valtteri he would just slip back underneath me and I thought: alright let’s try again.
“I think we’ll probably have to take a penalty which means that I will start at the back in Mexico.
“I’ll do my best to try and charge through the field and you’ll hopefully see more of today in Mexico.”
