Renault truck crash adds salt into wounds of Daniel Ricciardo horror show

Renault's weekend has gone from bad to worse following Australian Daniel Ricciardo's failure to finish the German Grand Prix.

Back-to-back race weekends saw Formula One teams and their equipment head straight to Budapest for the Hungarian Grand Prix.

But one of Renault’s trucks crashed in the country and was left hanging off the side of a freeway.

Renault said the driver had escaped serious injury but was taken to hospital after the articulated vehicle went off the motorway near Gyor.

Media reports suggest the driver suffered a fractured shoulder.

The team gave no details about the contents of the truck, one of many used for the European races.

Renault had a weekend to forget at Hockenheim, failing to score any points and dropping from fifth to sixth in the constructors’ standings.

Ricciardo's frustrating first season with the team continued after he became the second driver to retire from the chaotic German Grand Prix on Sunday.

German teammate Nico Hulkenberg, chasing a podium finish for the first time in his nine-year Formula One career, followed on lap 39 when he slid off track from second place.

It was Renault’s first double retirement since October 2017 and proved a costly blow in the constructors’ championship.

The French manufacturer lost ground to McLaren in fourth and dropped to sixth in the standings below Toro Rosso, who remarkably put their cars third and sixth in the race.

For Ricciardo his exhaust failure led to an unwanted twist of fate – both times he has finished seventh this season, he has retired the following race.

"I could see a lot of smoke coming out from the back of the car and that was our day done," Ricciardo said.

"It's certainly a shame. I watched the rest of the race and it looked a lot of fun out there.”

with AAP