Man, Daniel Ricciardo wasn’t holding back on the FIA frustration after getting tangled up in the Brazilian Grand Prix mess. Thanks to the chaos at Turn 1 and some questionable decisions, he ended up a lap down, and he didn’t shy away from speaking his mind.
First, there was Charles Leclerc crashing out on the formation lap – hydraulics glitch, total nightmare. Then, on the actual race kick-off, Alex Albon decided to play bumper cars with Nico Hulkenberg, sending Albon on a collision course with Kevin Magnussen. The result? Albon and Magnussen out of the race, and Ricciardo, along with Oscar Piastri, caught up in the debris.
Cue the Safety Car and red flag, giving the crews a shot at patching up Ricciardo’s AlphaTauri and Piastri’s McLaren. They did a bang-up job, but here’s the kicker – they rejoined the race a lap down after heading into the garages on the first lap.
And Ricciardo, being Ricciardo, let the FIA know what he thought. “Just because I’m an arsehole, thanks FIA,” he quipped over team radio after parking his ride post-race. He crossed the finish line in P13, with Piastri tailing behind, both of them bummed out about missing a chance at some decent points. Meanwhile, teammate Yuki Tsunoda grabbed two points with a P9 finish.
Ricciardo spilled his post-race frustrations, calling for the FIA to be a bit more “open-minded” about the whole lap-down ruling. He pointed out the flaw in starting a race a lap down without even completing a proper racing lap and made sure to highlight the fact that, despite the setbacks, they were exceptionally fast on the day. Tough break.
