“Like a frisbee through the air” - Ricciardo relieved to avoid F1 tyre in Brazil

Lap 1 at Interlagos was chaotic with Alex Albon and Kevin Magnussen colliding on the run down to the first corner.

The clash resulted in Ricciardo picking up damage to the rear of his AlphaTauri, while McLaren’s Oscar Piastri was also affected.

As a result of the clash between Albon and Magnussen, a loose tyre went airborne, hitting Ricciardo’s car.

Speaking after the race, Ricciardo recalled the incident where he was forced to take action to avoid the “frisbee” tyre.

“I saw a big crash in front of me and lots of debris,” Ricciardo said.

“I felt I was getting through it and then saw a tyre off the rim coming at me like a frisbee through the air and it started getting closer.

“I remember ducking my head. I didn’t feel anything hit me, so I was happy, but I checked my mirrors and saw my rear wing was pretty much off, so I assumed the tyre hit the wing, and that was frustrating. But looking back, it is nice it did not hit me.”

Ricciardo was able to get back into the race albeit a lap down.

As AlphaTauri were forced to repair his car during the subsequent red flag period, Ricciardo was forced to start the race from the pit lane and thus a lap behind the rest of the pack.

“My immediate relief was turned into disappointment because I realised the race could be over,” he added. “When you are in race mode you don’t think about it, but in hindsight I am thankful we all got out of it safe.

“The team did a great job fixing the car so we were ready to go and then I was told I would start a lap behind. All the excitement to race again gets zapped out of you.

“Common sense should be used and we should not have been a lap down because there was not one lap of green-flag racing. It is frustrating that they ruined our day from the beginning.”