Ricciardo rues "grim" weekend for Renault-powered reliability

Although his teammate Max Verstappen was able to control the race from the front to score an untroubled victory, Ricciardo charged into the top 10 from his 16^th position on the grid, following an engine change and 20-place grid penalty.

But Ricciardo was forced to retire after just a handful of laps, reporting over the radio an issue with the turbo as he toured into the pits.

“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.

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

As well as Ricciardo, Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg was an early retirement from a point-paying position, before Brendon Hartley’s Toro Rosso caused a Virtual Safety Car when it pulled off the track just before half distance, after reporting he was “losing a lot of power”. The second Renault of Carlos Sainz was also forced out, but this was a steering problem and not related to the power unit.

When asked if he thought the issues were related to the altitude or temperatures in Mexico, Ricciardo replied: “Certainly something fundamental going on. 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.”