Daniel Ricciardo’s rough weekend plummeted to a new depth on Monday morning after he failed to finish the Brazil Grand Prix.
Lewis Hamilton won the Brazil Grand Prix on Monday morning in one of his all-time great drives from 10th on the grid with championship leader Max Verstappen second.
With three races of the season remaining, Hamilton cut his Dutch rival’s lead to 14 points.
Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas, who started on pole, took third.
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Australian Daniel Ricciardo suffered a cruel nightmare when he was forced to retire late in the race as a result of his engine experiencing power loss.
It ended his run of 34 consecutive races where he reached the finish line and cost him significant championship points on a nightmare day for his McLaren team.
He had been on track to finish as high as fifth after a classy drive from starting from eighth on the grid.
Ricciardo was called into the garage on lap 51 just 20 laps short of the chequered flag.
McLaren has confirmed his retirement was the result of a power unit failure.
McLaren has suffered a hammer blow in its fight with rivals Ferrari in the battle to finish third in the constructors’ championship with Lando Norris also finishing 10th on a weekend where the McLarens struggled for pace in disappointing qualifying sessions earlier in the week.
The much bigger story was happening at the front of the race where Hamilton and Verstappen went wheel to wheel in a series of prickly moments late in the race.
With his car fitted with a new engine, Hamilton produced a peerless drive to overcome penalty points after his car was judged to have breached technical rules on Saturday.
That saw him demoted from pole to last in Sunday’s sprint race where he took fifth to leave him 10th in Monday’s Interlagos grid after another penalty for what Mercedes hoped would be their trump card now under the bonnet.
“What a race. The team did a great job, Valtteri did a great job. With the penalties, it’s the hardest race weekend I’ve had,” said Hamilton.
Bottas managed to hold Verstappen, starting alongside him on the second row, at the first bend but the Red Bull driver took the lead shortly after.
Hamilton was picking off the cars ahead of him with ominous ease and after both had pitted twice Hamilton surged past Verstappen on lap 59 to seal the race and revive his bid for a record eighth drivers’ title.
Qatar stages the next chapter of 2021’s gripping title battle next Sunday.
— with AFP
Originally published as Heartbreak as Daniel Ricciardo fails to finish Brazil Grand Prix
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