Daniel Ricciardo’s roller-coaster season saw him qualify third fastest for the Bahrain Grand Prix with a performance of raw speed which again put struggling world champion and Red Bull teammate Sebastian Vettel in the shade.

The 24-year-old Australian was just 0.866sec off the pole position time of Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg in a barnstorming drive given extra impetus by the knowledge that he was facing a 10-place penalty on the grid for a pit-lane infringement in Malaysia last week.

It was the latest dramatic episode for Ricciardo who had his second place in Australia stripped from him through disqualification.

Then, in Malaysia, he drove off with a loose wheel after a pit stop, and had to return to the garage to have it refitted.

As he returned to the track, dropping from fourth to last, Ricciardo’s front wing came loose and damaged a front tyre, meaning he had to go back to the pits.

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