Daniel Ricciardo secured his second consecutive fourth place finish during Sunday’s Bahrain Grand Prix, but admitted he was worried that his evening would be compromised by the first lap chaos.
The Red Bull Racing driver saw a large chunk of his front wing end plate break away from his RB12 after hitting Williams Martini Racing driver Valtteri Bottas, but was lucky to survive without needing a trip to the pit lane to replace it, and ultimately drove a superb race to fourth.
“The race start was interesting,” revealed Ricciardo. “I didn’t get off the line very well and I could see it was getting a bit chaotic into Turn 1. I tried to capitalize on it but ended up with damage on the front wing when Bottas and I came together.
There was a moment that I thought I would have to pit for a new wing as the chunk that came off looked pretty substantial but we were able to hang in there for a few laps, racing with the Williams.
“The damage didn’t affect me too much and we had a good race, although a little lonely towards the end, with some decent points scored.”
