Stewards penalized
Daniel Ricciardo after the end of the 2024
Chinese Grand Prix, as the incident with
Nico Hulkenberg under the safety car was reviewed.
The
RB F1 driver Daniel Ricciardo had a chance to score his first points of the season
during the fifth round at the
Shanghai International Circuit as he was running in P9.
However, his chances disappeared, and everything went downhill during the safety car restart on lap 26. Firstly,
Lance Stroll crashed into the back of his car in turn 14.
This significantly damaged the Honey Badger's floor and diffuser. Secondly, he was overtaken by Nico Hulkenberg (who was avoiding the collision) in the same corner.
Ricciardo took his place back during the next safety car, which followed shortly (one lap) after, but his car was so damaged that he had to retire it either way after the race restarted.
To add even more salt to his wounds, Ricciardo received a three-place grid penalty for the next race (Miami Grand Prix) for the overtake he made on Hulkenberg under the second safety car on lap 28. Stewards's document explained:
"The driver of Car 3 (Ricciardo) admitted that he overtook Car 27 (Hulkenberg) deliberately, but he explained that he felt that he could do so because Car 27 had overtaken him under safety car before on Lap 28. We note that Car 27 was permitted to overtake Car 3 on Lap 28 because of Article 55.8."
While the stewards can see a justifiable reason for the
Haas driver's overtake on Ricciardo under the safety car, they couldn't find an appropriate reason for the Australian driver to take his position back under another safety car.
Even though it might seem like it was his position and he deserved it, it is strictly forbidden to overtake when driving behind a safety car except for a few special exceptions.
"The driver of Car 3 admitted that he overtook Car 27 deliberately but he explained that he felt that he could do so because Car 27 had overtaken him under safety car before on Lap 28. We note that Car 27 was permitted to overtake Car 3 on Lap 28 because of Article 55.8."
"There was no justifiable basis for Car 3 to overtake Car 27 while the race was under Safety Car conditions. We accordingly imposed a 10 second time penalty on Car 3. As Car 3 was unable to serve the penalty due to retirement, we imposed a 3-grid place penalty to Car 3 for the next race in which the driver participates."
It seemed like Ricciardo had found his form in China, so it was a shame to see the Honey Badger retiring from the race. The next race hasn't even started, and it has already been compromised for the 34-year-old with the position drop penalty.
Consequently, the RB driver will need a very strong qualifying result during the upcoming
Miami Grand Prix to make up for the penalty he will be hit with before the race.
