I will not race at Singapore if I get a penalty: Ricciardo

Daniel Ricciardo suffered his fourth retirement in six races as his Renault engine gave up once more at the Italian Grand Prix. The Red Bull driver was looking good enough to finish in the points when he smoke bellowing out of the back of his Red Bull.

Ricciardo initially started last after picking up engine penalties for Monza, when his team decided to risk it. He did not gain positions at the start but somehow ended up ahead of Vettel after the German clashed with Hamilton at the start itself.

The duo then progressed together before Vettel used his superior engine and fresher tyres to go past Ricciardo and eventually finish in fifth, which got converted to a fourth after a time penalty for Max Verstappen.

“If I’ve got a penalty in Singapore I’m probably not even going to show up,” joked Ricciardo. He was then informed that Horner had told Sky Sports that he an old engine was available for him to fit at Singapore.

“That’s good to know. I hope Christian’s right and, if so, that’s music to my ears,” said Ricciardo. Constant retirements are never fun for anyone and Ricciardo is no different. He admitted that he was not enjoying it at the moment.

“It’s not always fun. Honestly, looking at the whole year it’s been pretty frustrating,” he stated.

“I still don’t know what it was. I passed [Lance] Stroll into turn one and then out of the corner I looked in the mirrors to see if I was clear of him and I couldn’t see that well, that’s when I realised there was smoke coming out the back.”

Ricciardo has won two races this year, at Monaco and China, and was third in the drivers’ standings at one point but the reliability or the lack thereof of his Renault engine unit has conspired to drop him below his teammate, Verstappen, who has just one victory to his credit.