Daniel Ricciardo has received an apology from McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl after his nightmare start to the 2022 season continued. After only finishing 14th in the season opener in Bahrain, ‘The Honey Badger’ was in contention for a points finish in Saudi Arabia on the weekend before being forced to retire as his car endured technical problems.
Ricciardo, 32, qualified in 11th but was then given a three place penalty after FIA stewards deemed him guilty of impeding Esteban Ocon. However, he made those three places back during the race and was just one spot outside the top 10 when he was then forced to crawl into the pit lane after his car seemingly failed on him.
The incident cost McLaren the chance of a double point finish, with Lando Norris getting his campaign up and running by taking seventh place. It has been a tough start for the British team, who despite being tipped to challenge more consistently this season, have thus been far way off the pace of the likes of Ferrari and Red Bull.
The exact reason for Ricciardo’s retirement is yet to be confirmed, but he has received an apology from Seidl. The German also confirmed team members would be investigating the car to try and source the problem ahead of the Australian Grand Prix in April 10.
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