Ricciardo escapes injury in heavy F1 FP2 shunt, apologises to team

Daniel Ricciardo has apologised to his Renault F1 team after giving it a significant amount of repair work to do following a high-speed crash at the Red Bull Ring during FP2.

The Australian was coming towards the end of his first flying lap at the wheel of the Renault RS.20 when he lost the rear-end midway round the fast right-hand turn.

Sending him spearing backwards across the run-off area and the gravel before clattering the barriers, it left the car with a significant amount of damage.

Despite the impact – which left him bottom of the FP2 timesheets without a time – Ricciardo escaped unharmed, even if he was shown limping to the medical car in the direct aftermath.

“Unfortunately, it was a very short second session for us. That first push lap was going quite well up until Turn 9. It was a mistake, it all happened very quickly so I’m not sure what went wrong. I turned in and just lost the car straight away. I know these things happen with cars and in Formula 1, so it’s not out of the ordinary.

“I’m OK, however, I feel bad for the guys. We’ll just move on. The car felt fine this morning, especially towards the end. The second session would have been interesting, so we’ll just have to find out our pace tomorrow or Sunday.”

Team-mate Esteban Ocon, who finished seventh on his return to F1 action with a run to eighth in Austria last weekend, fared more successfully with a run to tenth in what could become a qualifying session if storms do occur.

“It’s been a great day in terms of learning on our side. Our day ran smoothly, and we completed the planned programme, which was good. It was unfortunate to see Daniel not end the session, but the most important thing is that he is OK from a health point of view. There are a few little things to improve, but there are also some good areas and good points where we know we’re strong. It’s definitely been a useful day and we want more tomorrow.”