Of all the ways a driver can retire from a race, having to park up after picking up damage from reversing into another car is surely one of the most bizarre. That was the fate that befell Daniel Ricciardo in Sunday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix, with the Renault star having his misery compounded by the stewards in Baku, who handed him a three-place grid drop for the upcoming Spanish round for backing into Daniil Kvyat’s Toro Rosso. The incident in question occurred on lap 31 as Ricciardo attempted to pass the Russian for P10 into the notorious trouble spot of Turn 3. Having been too hot into the corner, the Australian took to the escape road. But as he set about reversing back onto the track, he did so without realising Kvyat’s STR14 had stopped behind him, having also failed to make the turn, bumping into the Toro Rosso and causing so much damage to the car’s floor that Kvyat too was also forced into retirement.

Daniel Ricciardo: 'No-one to blame but myself' for reversing incident

“I obviously don’t feel good about what just happened,” explained Ricciardo. “I know obviously what happened, but at the time it was looking quite good for us, we were just starting to pick up the pace and obviously closing on Dany, I saw a gap and thought I’d have a go. “It’s always tight into [Turn] 3, but initially I had the commitment and thought I’d pull it off, and then I felt I was going to start to lock and miss the corner. And then at that point, to be honest, as I started to go down the escape road, it was just a sense of urgency and a bit of panic I guess, and just trying to minimise damage and lose as little time as possible. “So I found reverse and started going and to be honest I had no idea he was there, the urgency stopped me from looking. “When I went long, to be honest I thought he would have just cut back and stayed on track, but I was just trying to minimise already the mistake I’d made, which turned into another mistake. So kind of crappy on my part, I certainly feel bad for the team and for Dany. Obviously it’s not cool, but I felt the team deserved more than that. “There were positives with the pace, but not the way I wanted to end it.”

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