Renault confirms Ricciardo DNF caused by clutch issue

Renault has confirmed that Daniel Ricciardo's retirement from the Italian Grand Prix was not the result of a failure with his engine, instead being caused by a clutch issue on his Red Bull Formula 1 car.

Ricciardo was forced to park up at the side of the track midway through Sunday's race at Monza, having slowed with smoke emerging from the rear of his car.

The problem was initially thought to be an engine issue due to the nature of the incident, with Ricciardo having upgraded to the new C-spec Renault engine for the Italy race weekend.

However, Renault confirmed in a short statement issued after the race that Ricciardo's retirement was instead related to a clutch issue on his car.

"We can confirm, after studying the PU on Daniel Ricciardo’s car, that his retirement was not linked to the engine. It was rather a clutch issue," the statement reads.

After starting 19th due to a grid penalty, Ricciardo had been on course for points after picking his way through the field through the opening half of the race, leaving the Australian frustrated after his third retirement in the last four races.

"It’s not always fun. Honestly, looking at the whole year it’s been pretty frustrating," Ricciardo said.

"I still don’t know what it was. I passed [Lance] Stroll into Turn 1, then out of the corner, I looked in the mirrors to see if I was clear of him.

"I couldn’t see that well, and that’s when I realised there was smoke coming out of the back.

"I mentioned that straight away and they said stop."