How a uniquely 'random' piece of track ruined Ricciardo's race

Daniel Ricciardo narrowly avoided creating chaos to start the Australian Grand Prix after a uniquely ‘random’ piece of the Albert Park street circuit ruined his Renault.

In a shocking start to life at his new team, the home hope was forced to retire on lap 31 of the 58-lap race, won by Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas in the ‘race of his life’.

Ricciardo lost his front wing after the lights went out when he put his right wheels on the grass attempting to pass Racing Point’s Sergio Perez.

The wing cracked off his car as he dropped on to a gap of bitumen between two grass patches – a flaw in the circuit that Ricciardo did not expect.

“Gutted, for sure. When it’s over like that as well it’s a weird one. That was unexpected,” he told Channel 10.

“I got a better run than Perez. I saw there was a bit of space on the inside so I went. He moved a little bit so I just moved obviously – it’s a natural reaction.

“But that last movement just put my wheel in the grass and there was a massive bump, which caught me by surprise. Those bumps, that was kind of random.

“It’s not like there’s always a change across the grass (at other tracks). I would say (I was) more unlucky than anything else.”

The grass-bitumen-grass transition is a compromise at the Melbourne street circuit, which largely has the surroundings of a regular racetrack but is public road and parkland for the majority of the year.

Ricciardo was unaware he had totally destroyed his front wing when he slammed on the brakes into turn one to avoid a major collision.

“The bump was big. I could feel that it was a big hit. I was more surprised that that bump was there in the first place more than the wing coming off,” he said.

“But I didn’t see the wing come off. I knew I’d hit the car hard but just coming into braking for turn one, as soon as I locked the fronts I knew something was broken.

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“But I didn’t know till I saw the replay (about the bump). Shame, the whole week we’ve been pushing uphill.”

New teammate Nico Hulkenberg, who started one place ahead of Ricciardo in 11th, managed to finish seventh in a simple race.

The German finished a lap down but will take six points into Bahrain for the second race of the season in two weeks’ time.

Ricciardo’s former teammate Max Verstappen put his Red Bull, powered by an impressive Honda engine, on the podium behind Bottas and reigning champion Lewis Hamilton.