however, on 22 october 2011, a few days before the inaugural indian grand prix, the race where karthikeyan was due to gain back his seat for his home race, hrt f1 announced that vitantonio liuzzi made way for karthikeyan, allowing ricciardo to race in india and extend his learning curve that red bull racing paid the struggling spanish team to do, as well as allowing karthikeyan to race in front of his home fans. in abu dhabi, ricciardo retired with mechanical problems after starting 20th on the grid and in the final race at the , ricciardo finished 20th after starting 22nd on the grid.