Furious Daniel Ricciardo hit with fresh blow as Miami Grand Prix grid penalty issued

Daniel Ricciardo was already far from a happy bunny after the Chinese Grand Prix, with his mood likely to have only dropped further after being given a grid drop for the next race.

Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll had been the focus of Ricciardo’s anger after the race, Ricciardo exclaiming “f*ck that guy” after being hit from behind by Stroll at a Safety Car restart.

Daniel Ricciardo given Miami Grand Prix three-place grid drop

That landed Stroll a 10-second time penalty and two points for his FIA Super Licence, but now Ricciardo has been pulled up for a Safety Car-related infringement.

The stewards investigated after Ricciardo passed the Haas of Nico Hulkenberg behind the Safety Car, revealing that Ricciardo had admitted to doing so on purpose, but argued this was only because Hulkenberg had done the same earlier.

That explanation did not sway the stewards, who gave Ricciardo a 10-second time penalty of his own. However, since he was forced to retire from the race as a result of the Stroll-inflicted damage, this will become a three-place grid penalty for the next race, the Miami Grand Prix.

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“The Stewards heard from the driver of Car ​3 (Daniel Ricciardo), the driver of Car ​27 (Nico Hulkenberg), team representatives and reviewed positioning/marshalling system data, video, timing, team radio and in-car video evidence and determined that Car 3 overtook Car 27 while the race was under Safety Car conditions,” the report began.

“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.”

Ricciardo is still waiting for his first point of the F1 2024 campaign, with his RB team taking zero points away from the Shanghai International Circuit after Yuki Tsunoda was forced to retire as a result of a collision with Hulkenberg’s Haas team-mate Kevin Magnussen.

Read next: Lance Stroll responds after Daniel Ricciardo ‘f*ck that guy’ verdict on Chinese GP shunt