Daniel Ricciardo’s troubles continue at the Australian Grand Prix with the local hope’s car again failing during Saturday’s practice session.

Ricciardo was forced into the pits but later returned to the Albert Park circuit in Melbourne as Mercedes’ reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton went quickest.

14 of the 18 drivers were quicker than Ricciardo through the practice session, an ominous sign ahead of qualifying later on Saturday.

Ricciardo on Friday missed an entire practice session and had a new engine installed in his car.

And halfway into Saturday’s practice, Ricciardo’s car stopped after exiting pit lane.

Red Bull mechanics were forced to push the car back into the pits but after some 10 minutes the Australian driver reappeared on track and completed another six laps.

But Ricciardo could only clock the 15th fastest time during a practice session topped by Hamilton’s Mercedes with a best lap of one minute 27.867 seconds.

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel (1:28.563) was next best ahead of Nico Rosberg (1:28.821) in his Mercedes.