Ricciardo considered retiring during 'miserable' US GP

Daniel Ricciardo considered parking his AlphaTauri in the opening stages of the United States Grand Prix, after picking up substantial damage.

It was his first race weekend back since sitting out the last five races due to a hand injury, which he picked up during practice of the Dutch GP weekend.

Liam Lawson filled in while he got treatment for a fractured metacarpal, with Red Bull electing to see out his recommended recovery time to minimise any potential risks that could stem from an earl comeback.

Ricciardo was seen finding it difficult to use his right hand to get out of his car on Saturday after the Sprint, which suggests he is still needing to take care after the fracture.

Ricciardo: That made our race pretty miserable, I won't lie.

During the open stages the Australian picked up debris which was lodged in his front wing, the origins of which are unknown according to Ricciardo.

"They [team] mentioned Stroll, and we were close but don't think we touched," he told media, including RacingNews365.

"We must have picked up some debris somewhere and that made our race pretty miserable, I won't lie.

"At best we are a top 10 car and when you put damage into it, we are certainly out of the points."

After several laps spent off the pace, Ricciardo contemplated whether he should retire but continued when the team removed the lodged piece during his first pit stop.

He finished the race a lap down and last on the road, which turned into P15 with the disqualification of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc.

"I was saying 'Guys I can't really do anything' and kind of suggesting do we just box and call it a day or try to fix it and learn something," he explained.

"We got to a point where I said 'Okay, we'll try to at least see if we can we fix it' and they tried to fix it.

"I don't know if it was front wing or brake ducts, but they put the Soft on [during pit stop] and it was a bit better."