RB’s Daniel Ricciardo has been handed a three-place grid penalty for Formula 1’s Miami Grand Prix Sprint Race after a Safety Car infraction in China.
Ricciardo was hit wide by Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll at the hairpin while the field was preparing for the race restart, and the following Nico Hulkenberg went past Ricciardo.
The race was neutralised once more and Ricciardo re-passed Hulkenberg, and restarted ahead, before ultimately regressing through the field due to the damage sustained when hit by Stroll.
Ricciardo swiftly pulled into the pits to retire from the race.
Stewards deemed that while Hulkenberg was permitted to overtake Ricciardo, with Ricciardo having been afflicted by the incident, Ricciardo was not allowed to re-pass.
“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,” read the stewards’ report.
“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.”
Ricciardo was handed a 10-second time penalty, along with two penalty points, but as he cannot serve the sanction due to his retirement it has been converted into a grid demotion for Miami.
Ricciardo will consequently drop three places on the grid in Miami, with the penalty due to be applied for the Sprint Race only.
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