RB’s Daniel Ricciardo has revealed that a clutch problem was behind the jump start in Formula 1’s Canadian Grand Prix that saw him hit with a five-second time drop.
Ricciardo became the first driver to be punished under the FIA’s clampdown on jump starts as his car was deemed to have moved “before the start signal was given”.
The Australian admitted that he was bemused with the events that had unravelled until his race engineer Pierre Hamelin told him that it came from a technical issue.
“It was weird because I got told I had a five-second penalty for a jump start, but I know I didn’t jump the lights, so I was a bit confused,” Ricciardo explained.
“So I obviously questioned it, but then I remember, I feel like when I was finding the revs for the start, I felt maybe the car was moving.
“So yeah, Pierre said obviously we had a bit of an issue, so perhaps a clutch or something. So that obviously was a little bit of a backstep.”
The RB drivers have lamented inconsistent starts over recent times this term and boss Laurent Mekies divulged Ricciardo’s car moved “due to slight clutch dragging”.
Daniel Ricciardo (AUS) RB VCARB 01 waves at the end of the race. 09.06.2024. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 9, Canadian Grand Prix, Montreal, Canada, Race Day
Ricciardo dropped down to 10th once he took his penalty under the first Safety Car on Lap 26 and he lost another place when Alex Albon overtook him on the restart.
“Then when we pitted for an Inter, we lost a few positions for the cars that stayed out, and then we weren’t really able to get much more out of that new Inter,” he said.
“So yeah, the race was kind of getting away from us.”
But Albon would drop out when the spinning Carlos Sainz collected his Williams, while RB team-mate Yuki Tsunoda dropped his car on wet grass when he cut Turn 8.
An on-track pass on Esteban Ocon’s Alpine would complete Ricciardo’s climb back through the field to eighth, bagging his first points in grand prix conditions in 2024.
“Then as it dried towards the end, we were able to pick our way through a few cars,” he added. “And yeah, happy then to obviously finish with four points and get that.
“So yeah, it was never going to be perfect. I mean, these conditions are so hard to get it right for everyone.
“So yeah, we’ll obviously keep trying to clean it up. But I think in general, for a race like that, we walked away with some points.
“So all in all, a fairly good weekend from start to finish. And I won’t complain. It was definitely a good one.”
Ricciardo was pleased to convert his promising starting berth into a points return amid continued criticism over the weekend from ex-F1 champion Jacques Villeneuve.
“Yeah, it’s been good,” he enthused. “I mean, I feel as well, you know, these weekends are sometimes the hardest, you know, especially when maybe things aren’t going too well or you’re lacking momentum, then you get so many, you know, we had all conditions this weekend.
“So that was like, nice to, as you say, start to finish, keep it on track, keep it steady, keep it smooth.
“So yeah, we needed it. Of course, I needed it. So yeah, I won’t say anything else to the others, but it’s good. We’ll keep it quiet. But yeah, happy.”
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