Daniel Ricciardo had a horror Saturday on home soil and will start from the last row of the grid for the Australian Grand Prix at 3pm.
But he’s still hopeful of “charging through the field” in this afternoon’s race around Albert Park in Melbourne.
Ricciardo qualified just 18th – second-slowest – after having a lap time deleted in qualifying for exceeding track limits.
But history shows that there’s still hope he can claim what would be a hugely valuable points finish.
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Mixed day for Aussies in Melbourne | 02:10
In last year’s race, a full eight drivers failed to finish amid a series of chaotic accidents. The race was red-flagged three times, with seven drivers eliminated due to accidents or crashes, while Mercedes’ George Russell suffered an engine issue that ended his race prematurely.
Sergio Perez of Red Bull went from a pit-lane start – effectively last – to finish fifth, while Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll surged from 17th to fourth despite an early collision before running through the gravel in the closing stages.
The year before, Max Verstappen’s Red Bull caught fire after a fuel leak, legendary multiple champion Sebastian Vettel crashed out, and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz also failed to finish after an early off-track.
So anything can happen – even if the outlook is dire.
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Sky Sports’ Karun Chandhok said Ricciardo will need to remain patient.
“He’s just going to have to survive in some ways because this is a track where we’ve seen incidents and there’s a bit of jeopardy involved,” he said.
“Maybe that is something where he’s just going to play the long game and try to stay clean for the first lap and see how it unfolds.”
And Ricciardo told Sky F1 that despite the “painful” failure in qualifying, he hopes he can go “charging through the field.”
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