'Just Because I’m An A***hole, Thanks FIA' Says Ricciardo After Falling 'Victim' To Rules
F1Tuesday, 07 November 2023 at 05:00
AlphaTauri F1 driver Daniel Ricciardo reacted to the rules that made him and Oscar Piastri start a lap down after the restart of the 2023 Sao Paulo Grand Prix at Interlagos Circuit.
Daniel Ricciardo fell victim to an incident that happened in front of him on the first race start. He suffered rear wing damage after being hit by a loose tire and flew away from cars that collided in front of him.
The Honey Badger finished the lap under yellow flags and a safety car, went into the pits, and while he was there, the race also got red-flagged.
The problem was that the AlphaTauri driver, along with fellow Australian Oscar Piastri on McLaren, did not complete the lap behind the safety car.
As a result, both cars had to start from the pit lane and a lap down on everybody. From that point on, the race was basically destroyed for both drivers.
Ricciardo felt he was "frustratingly fast" during the race as he caught up with the pack and even overtook a few drivers to finish behind his teammate Yuki Tsunoda.
The Honey Badger would have achieved points, but the only problem was he was a lap down. He could not help the sarcastic remark on a radio as he was getting out of the car after the race: "Just because I’m an arsehole, thanks FIA."
During a post-race interview, Ricciardo explained he disagreed with the rules that set him one lap back, and he thinks there has to be a flaw.
"I think firstly, it exposed a flaw or something in the rules because I didn’t feel like we ever did a racing lap, and then you already start the race a lap down. So Oscar and I fell victim to that today."
The AlphaTauri driver had the pace to help his team in fight for the seventh place in the Championship, but he couldn't. Ricciardo thinks the decision would be different if more cars were in the same situation.
"I think, to me, it’s like okay, the two of us today, but if 15 cars had damage and had to do what we did, are they going to start a race with 15 cars a lap down? I don’t think so. So I think they need to be a bit more open-minded. So that was frustrating."
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