Daniel Ricciardo was left feeling "flat" after copping another deflating result on home turf in the Australian Grand Prix.
His poor luck at Albert Park continued on Sunday when - in avoiding possible contact with Sergio Perez off the start - he was forced into the pits for repairs, and later into retirement on lap 31.
Starting 12th, Ricciardo moved to the right and kept his foot planted, but in doing so, ran his Renault over a grass verge at pit exit and ripped the front wing off his car.
He dropped to plumb last after pitting, and circulated around the back of the pack before he got the call from the pit wall to retire the car.
FINE FINN: Bottas romps to victory, Ricciardo forced to retire
F1 IS GO: Everything you need to know about the 2019 season
Valtteri Bottas led home a dominant Mercedes 1-2, with the Finnish driver romping home by nearly 21 seconds ahead of polesitter Lewis Hamilton.
Ricciardo’s teammate Nico Hulkenberg proved the French team's package has decent pace, with the German bringing the sole remaining Renault home in seventh.
However, Aussie flags flew silently by race's end - things simply haven't gone to plan for the 29-year-old in his home race.
Ricciardo initially finished second on his Red Bull debut in 2014 before he was disqualified due to illegal fuel flow, and failed to make the start in 2017 and later retired with engine dramas.
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A stellar start for Bottas, and a bumpy ride for Ricciardo
Re-live the moment the 2019 season roared into life 📽️#AusGP 🇦🇺 #F1 pic.twitter.com/JDU7umozCT
This year, it was mostly down to his own judgement - with bad luck involved - but Ricciardo still couldn't hide his disappointment.
"Flat," he said when asked to describe how he felt after the race.
"I feel like it is hard to get things going here, but also today I feel I was pretty unlucky.
"I just put two wheels in and the next thing there was a massive gutter ditch which I don’t feel is probably on many places.
"It is what is. It is tough... we are always pushing uphill and you can never do enough, but I feel we do more than enough, I don’t want to blame that."
Ricciardo conceded he was in the dark over why he was eventually retired from the race by his team, and couldn't believe he copped so much damage from a sequence of events that were largely in his control.
"I feel flat for more reason than one... I do believe we had a problem so I don’t think we were playing safe," he said.
"Apparently we had some issue so I hope it’s not greater than that.
"I had a bit of a run, [Perez] made a little flinch, but when it happens that quick you see him move. I moved but then he straightens up, but the next thing I’m on the grass.
"You never know how much he is going to move because he was in front at the time, you just follow his initial reaction. That second one just put my wheel in the grass.
"When I hit the grass I wasn’t too concerned, I thought I would just drive through it and I thought I would have enough momentum to stay alongside him.
"But then that ditch was there and that was it."