Daniel Ricciardo Bahrain GP Breakdown: How did the Aussie fare?

Daniel Ricciardo's Bahrain Grand Prix ultimately ended in more disappointment, after an electrical problem forced the Australian out of the race on lap 53. It represented two DNFs out of two for the Renault recruit, who joined the team after leaving Red Bull in the summer.

He might not have finished, but how did the race as a whole pan out for the Honey Badger?

OPENING LAPS

Starting the race from 10th, Ricciardo held position from the grid and moved up quickly due to incidents involving Romain Grosjean and Carlos Sainz. Ricciardo, along with team-mate Nico Hulkenberg, were operating a one-stop strategy, but it soon became clear that both drivers were struggling for pace.

PIT STOPS

As others pitted onto fresher tyres, the Renault strategy appeared ill-conceived and by the time the team looked to react, they were already stuck between a rock and a hard place; if they had changed strategy they would have came out at the back of the grid behind the other teams that had been proactive.

CLOSING STAGES

That being said, Ricciardo was in the points and as the race neared its close looked certain to get off the mark for the season. But in a curious twist, both Hulkenberg and Ricciardo suffered separate faults on virtually the same corner of the same lap. Ricciardo's electrical problem led to the introduction of the safety car, under which the race ultimately finished, with two yellow cars sitting out of action.

CONCLUSION

In the space of a year Ricciardo has came from driving at a Red Bull team looking to offer a serious threat to Ferrari and Mercedes, to a team that already looks in serious danger of becoming also-rans. There always was a fear that Ricciardo could become an Alonso-style figure, suffering frustration from down the grid. Two DNFs in two races hardly shifts that mindset.

WHAT THEY SAID

RICCIARDO: "I felt like we got past a point in the first stint where it was too late to come back [from a one-stop strategy] and it was pretty much at that point I knew it wasn't the best thing to do.

"If we then did the two-stop we would have come out behind everyone else so we had to commit to it. In hindsight, well even during the race we knew it wasn't the best thing. We tried it. That was the idea. But I think a two-stop would have been much more preferred.

"At that first point, maybe I was questioning if it was too late already. So we'll have a look to see if we could have salvaged something. If we were in that kind of limbo again, we'll try to make the right decision out of the two."

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