Ricciardo unconsolable: 'The weekend's turned to crap'

Daniel Ricciardo was on the other opposite end of Red Bull's satisfaction spectrum, as desolate and downbeat as his winning team mate was happy.

The Aussie's race started in P16 following an engien change and subsequent grid penalty but Ricciardo charged into the top 10 from the get go.

Unfortunately, his impressive start was cut short after just a handful of laps following what appeared to be a turbo failure.

"Obviously the weekend’s turned to crap," Ricciardo told NBC.

"I did what I could at the start – it was pretty close, there was a bit going on – but I made quick progress.

"I told Helmut [Marko] this morning that I’d get up to seventh by the end of the first lap. I was a couple of laps off I think, but we got close.

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"We put the new unit in, but something went wrong. Not really sure what it was or where that puts us for Brazil."

It was an apocalyptic weekend on the power unit front for Renault with several failures on Friday and Saturday, and Toro Rosso's Brendon Hartley and works driver Nico Hulkenberg and Carlos Sainz all hit by mechanical failures on Sunday.

Whether the issues were linked to Mexico City's specific high altitude environment remains to be seen however.

"Certainly something fundamental going on", said the Aussie.

"We’ve been coming to Mexico the past few years so there shouldn’t be any surprises, I know the altitude and temperatures have been hard to stay on top of this weekend.

"I don’t know if it’s this year’s spec of engine which is struggling up here – obviously it is, but why we’re not sure.

"So it’s been a pretty grim weekend for a few of us, it’s a shame to be out early again, so I guess it’s a bit of what Max experienced early in the year, yeah, it’s not so fun."

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