AlphaTauri’s bet on Daniel Ricciardo’s return paid off when the Australian helped the team jump to eighth on the constructor’s standings after a brilliant weekend in Mexico. Looking to continue his newfound momentum, Ricciardo shifted his focus to the Brazilian GP – one of the most dramatic races of the year. The Faenza outfit were confident in their abilities despite the qualifying setback and were looking to make the most of the weekend.

However, the Australian would find himself in a frustrating situation after a tire that had been dislodged during the Albon-Magnussen crash managed to clip Ricciardo’s rear wing, meaning his race would have been over. But fate eased its wrath and a red flag was waved due to the barrier deformities, which meant that the team could work on the car. Unfortunately for Daniel Ricciardo, his race was already over unbeknownst to him.

Daniel Ricciardo is fuming at the FIA after heartbreak at the Brazilian GP

As the first lap came to an end, Ricciardo and Piastri, who had also sustained damage, both pitted. But the other teams followed the safety car till it came to a halt. This meant that according to the regulations, any cars in their garage at the time the race was suspended, would be arranged at the back of the line of cars in the fast lane [of the pits] in the order they got there.

This also meant that although Ricciardo and Piastri’s garage had fixed their cars, they effectively started a lap down on the rest of the grid, despite the advantage being the same. In essence, the teams’ efforts to get the #3 & #81 cars back on the road were invalidated by the FIA’s decision.

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Ricciardo was quoted by Motorsport.com, frustrated with the lack of flexibility in the rules, “We hoped there was a red flag and we can get back in the race. So, we got to the pits. We heard there were reds. The team did a great job fixing the car, so we’re ready to go. Then they tell me that Oscar and I are starting a lap down. All the excitement you have to race again just gets completely zapped out of you. There was not a green flag racing lap completed. I don’t know how we start the race then a lap down. That’s really frustrating.”

The Australian felt that he and Piastri fell victim to a blunder in the errors, that could have happened to anyone! “Obviously, it’s something kind of a bit lame in the rules. I think my argument is if 15 cars had our issue today, are they going to start 15 cars in the pit lane a lap down and put five cars on the grid? No. They’re not going to do that. So, for me, I think they can use common sense and be a bit open-minded. I just wish we could race, I wish they would let us be in the race. That one hurts a bit.”

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This meant that Ricciardo’s hopes of finishing in the points were over because of race directives, and not due to his own mistake. Even though he was close to Tsunoda on track, he was in fact a lap down on his teammate! But he was not alone, joined by fellow national, Oscar Piastri, who took a different way of analyzing the Brazilian GP start.

Oscar Piastri takes a moment to self-reflect

The two Australians were victims of other drivers’ racing incidents and were paying a heavier price themselves! But while Ricciardo took the approach of calling out the FIA, Oscar Piastri had a moment of self-reflection. The Australian rookie was quoted by Motorsport.com, “It’s a shame. Of course, there was nothing I could have done. But when you qualify in those kinds of positions, you leave yourself much more at risk to stuff like that. It all kind of starts from Friday, unfortunately.” 

While the damage he had sustained was fixed by the McLaren mechanics in quick time during the red flag, Piastri couldn’t help but bring out the flaws they had during qualifying on Friday. He had qualified down in 10th while Lando Norris was just ahead in 7th.

However, Norris made a lightning start to catch up with Max Verstappen, Piastri was caught out in the battle between Magnussen and Alex Albon, resulting in heartbreak for the 22-year-old. He concluded, “And in some ways, that’s put me in 10th on the grid and left me more at risk of stuff like that happening. So, if I was starting even where Lando [Norris] started or further up the front, I wouldn’t have been in that crash.” 

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Whilst both Australian drivers were caught out due to their poor qualifying run, the two look forward to the Las Vegas GP, where Piastri aims to match Lando Norris’s new-found challenge to Verstappen, and Ricciardo is looking to bring AlphaTauri home with eighth or better in the constructors.