Daniel Ricciardo was left wondering how he was still smiling after another disappointing result at his home race.
Looking to make up places from P12 on the grid, the Australian’s had barely crossed the start line when he would lose his front wing on a gutter with two wheels on the grass heading to Turn 1.
Already well behind the field, the decision was taken to stop the car in his first race with Renault.
“No-one to blame, other than grass and a big bump of concrete,” he admitted afterwards.
“I didn’t want to go on the grass, I had a run on [Sergio] Perez, I saw him move, so moved a bit more and that put my wheel on the grass and as soon as I got the grass there was the gutter.”
The result marked his third retirement in Melbourne, in addition to his disqualification from second in 2014.
“I don’t know how I’m smiling, I don’t seem to have a good break here,” Ricciardo added.
Talking to Sky Sports, the 29-year-old also thinks perhaps the extra commitments of his home race had had a negative impact on his weekend
“We should be a top-eight car the first half of the season, then even better after that,” he stated.
“Bahrain [will be] like a holiday week, nothing going on so I can prepare.
“When the race is over in five seconds I feel that the preparation was not where it should be and I’m too busy pleasing everybody else,” Ricciardo concluded.