Ricciardo onto fourth engine after blow-out

Christian Horner has joked that Daniel Ricciardo's expired Renault engine will 'make a nice coffee table in the future' after its spectacular blow-out right at the end of the Bahrain Grand Prix.

The Australian was classified in sixth position despite the power unit giving way 200m before the finish line in spectacular fashion, an expiry that Horner mused was simply its way of joining in with the traditional post-race fireworks around the venue.

"All the fireworks went off and the engine felt like it needed to join in! A fairly spectacular finish, it failed 200m before the line, but we had enough momentum to cross the line. I think that engine will be a coffee table in the future."

More seriously, however, the failure puts Ricciardo on the cusp of an engine penalty just five rounds into the season as he will head to the Spanish Grand Prix having used three of his four allocated power units.

It is the latest drama in the ongoing saga of Renault's troubles in bringing the power unit up to scratch in terms of reliability and performance. However, Horner - having been vocally critical earlier in the season - is satisfied Renault is doing all it can to find a solution.

"We have had problems in every race so far," he continued. "I went to Paris between China and coming here, I had a constructive discussion with Jerome Stoll who is the main board member within Renault and they don't want to be in this position.

"They want to be in F1 to compete and they want to win, they don't want to be in the situation that they are, so of course that is not going to come for free. He recognises that and Renault seem committed to finding a solution."