Daniel Ricciardo has taken on his second power unit of 2018 at only the third Grand Prix of the year following his spectacular failure during practice in China.
Ricciardo took on a new Energy Store and Control Electronics following his retirement in Bahrain and received a further blow in FP3 on Saturday.
Ricciardo managed just four laps in the session before he suffered a smoky and fiery engine failure, prompting Red Bull to undertake a rapid change of parts prior to qualifying.
Ricciardo’s car received a new ICE, MGU-K, MGU-H and Turbocharger, meaning he is already on to the second of his allocated components this year.
It has yet to be determined whether the parts can be salvaged for later in the year; Ricciardo will start the Chinese Grand Prix from sixth on the grid.
“I think they have broken their own record for an engine change several times and they did it again today,” Ricciardo said of his mechanics.
“It got to 2pm and the guys were saying get ready, but we didn’t think it was going to happen. I didn’t expect to get out but I was ready to go and excited when I did.
“What happened this morning wasn’t the mechanics’ fault but they had all the pressure to put the new engine in the car in time and they did very well.
“In the end it’s relatively close, we’re at the tail end of the top six which isn’t ideal, but I think with all things considered it wasn’t a bad afternoon and I’m just thankful that the team were able to get me out there.”
Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen will start from fifth position on the grid.
Discussion about this post