Kiwi Formula One driver Brendon Hartley has crashed out of the Monaco Grand Prix, putting his sport with the Toro Rosso team further under threat.
The Monaco resident started the race from 15th on the grid and damaged his front wing on the fifth turn of lap one. He lasted until late in the race, but on the 70th of 78 laps, he was hit from behind when challenging for 10th, ending his day.
"I had a pretty good start, but I damaged my front win, which was annoying," he said. "It was an uphill battle from there, the tyres quickly faded with lack of front downforce.
"Towards the end of the race, I was catching [for 10th], but then I got hit from behind by a Sauber. [Canadian Charles Leclerc] and I spoke afterwards, and he said he lost the brakes.
"It's pretty frustrating, but that's Monaco. I was happy with how I was driving today, but ultimately it wasn't meant to be."
Hartley continues to languish near the bottom of the Formula One standings and had been counting on a breakthrough performance in familiar surroundings to bolster his hopes of survival.
Meanwhile, Aussie Daniel Ricciardo completed a dominant weekend on the tight street course, finishing seven seconds clear of German Sabastian Vettel, with championship leader Lewis Hamilton another 10 seconds back.
Ricciardo lead through all three stages of qualifying, setting track records in each session. His fastest time was 1m 10.810s.
The result sees him jump two spots on the overall drivers' standings, now third behind Hamilton and Vettel.
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