Daniel Ricciardo's Qatar Grand Prix went from bad to worse on Sunday due to a poor start and erroneous fuel readings from his McLaren car that compromised his race.
Ricciardo had qualified only 14th on Saturday which left the Aussie with a fair amount of work to do on Sunday.
Unfortunately, a cautious approach to Turn 1 in the melee set the McLaren driver back to P16 from where he recovered to move up the order.
But extreme fuel consumption readings – which would later prove to be incorrect – turned the second part of his race into an economy run that left him lingering well down the order.
"I started doing what I thought was already a lot and it was not enough," Ricciardo explained, describing his fuel saving efforts.
"Tom said ‘you need to do more, you need to do more, it’s not enough’ to a point where I think at times we were losing 2s per lap with fuel saving and with that the brakes get cold, the tyres get cold and you lose grip as well. So it’s kind of a downwards spiral.
"We were fuel saving for I would say a good half of the race and that just took us way, way out. And then Tom said ‘no more fuel saving, maximum push’.
"I’m only saying Tom because he’s the one that feeds me the information, but it’s clearly a system error and it’s a shame because when I could push I felt I was able to get the reference time.
"But I guess we were at the mercy of an error with the reading."
Ricciardo admitted that he had endured a bit of a confusing evening given the contradictory information.
"It’s the most I’ve had to save and the earliest in a race I’ve ever had to save. I think you guys [journalists] could’ve driven a similar pace," he added.
"I was coasting into every corner, it was never enough.
"Then, I don’t know what happened with the system or if they got another reading but Tom was like ‘no more, just push’ and I said ‘but wait, no fuel saving?’ and he said ‘no, just push’ and I was like ‘I’m so confused’. It’s clearly something that’s gone wrong.
"I’m going to look on the bright side and say I’m glad it didn’t happen in a podium position because that would’ve been the most painful thing ever. But it definitely took us out of a chance of points."
Looking back at the start of his race, Ricciardo said that his cautious entry into the first corner was because he couldn't see his braking markers in the melee.
"There was Charles [Leclerc] and [Lance] Stroll and I think I was kind of in the middle and I basically couldn’t see Turn 1," he explained.
"Obviously when you’re towards the back it’s quite hard to see through the pack, so then you kind of look for the braking markers just to get a reference on when to brake and I just couldn’t see them.
"I stayed in as long as I thought and then I lifted, but I ultimately just lifted way too early and then a lot of people on the outside had a clear run and went.
"That’s what happens when you start so far back. I’ll take accountability for that!"
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