ricciardo's teammate for the 2019 season was nico hülkenberg. ricciardo had a poor start to the season with retirements in the first two races, from front wing damage in australia and power failure in bahrain. a 7th-place finish in china followed. in azerbaijan, ricciardo reversed into daniil kvyat when both cars stopped after an overtake attempt by ricciardo, causing race-ending damage for both drivers and ricciardo's third retirement in four races. six consecutive race finishes followed, including a strong 4th place in qualifying and 6th place finish in canada. ricciardo then suffered an exhaust failure at the german grand prix.