Daniel Ricciardo drops back three places
The Australian received a three-place penalty on the starting grid after impeding Esteban Ocon during the second qualifying session.
It’s been a nightmare start to the season for Daniel Ricciardo. After being eliminated in Q1 in Bahrain and once again being beaten by his teammate in Jeddah, the McLaren driver has received a grid penalty.
During the second qualifying session, the Australian driver remained at low speed on the racing line, thus hindering Esteban Ocon who was on a fast lap. Although the Frenchman managed to make it to Q3, the infraction was noted and a penalty was imposed. Daniel Ricciardo is thus fined 10,000 € and also receives a three-place grid penalty for the start (at 19:00). Consequently, he drops from 12th to 15th place.
Read also: 19 drivers on the grid in Jeddah
(R) [Ricciardo] admitted that he didn’t know that car 31 was on a fast lap because his team didn’t inform him. By the time he saw car 31 approaching, it was too late. The representative of the McLaren team admitted that he made a mistake by not informing his driver about the arrival of car 31. The driver of car 31 stated that his lap had to be abandoned because he was unnecessarily hindered by car 3 », according to the FIA statement.
