RB reassured Daniel Ricciardo he was not to blame after the stewards gave him a five-second time penalty for jumping the start of the Canadian Grand Prix.
The stewards noted Ricciardo’s car “moved after the four second light was illuminated and before the start signal was given” prior to the start. He therefore fell foul of the stricter rules on jump starts which were introduced after the season began.Ricciardo said after the race he hadn’t realised his car was moving before the red lights went out.
“I got a penalty for a jump start, but I was a bit confused because I knew that I didn’t jump the lights but then I remembered that during the start I felt that maybe the car was moving,” he said.
“We had a bit of an issue with the car, and we’ll have a look at it, but obviously, this was a back step for our race.”
His race engineer Pierre Hamelin told him on the radio: “The penalty was nothing to do with you, Daniel. No mistake on your side. It was an issue with the car.”
RB team principal Laurent Mekies later confirmed Ricciardo’s car moved before the start “due to some very slight clutch dragging.”
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Ricciardo was running seventh when he took his penalty on lap 26, during the first Safety Car period. It dropped him to 10th place at the restart, though two of the drivers who gained places from him did not pit, and so would have got ahead of him anyway.
“When we pitted for the inters, we lost a few positions to the cars that stayed out and weren’t really able to get much more out of the new tyres,” said Ricciardo. “We jumped out of the point-scoring positions, and the race was kind of getting away from us.”
After losing a place to Alexander Albon, who was later taken out by Carlos Sainz Jnr, Ricciardo gained places from Yuki Tsunoda and Esteban Ocon. He finished eighth, one place behind Lance Stroll, the only driver who moved ahead of Ricciardo due to his penalty.
“As the track dried towards the end and we were on mediums, I was able to pick my way through a few cars back into the top 10 which was a little bit of a relief,” said Riccairdo. “I’m happy it was a fairly smooth weekend for us, and obviously for increasing the gap to the midfield behind us.”
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elvira
10th June 2024, 15:16
I recall he said he was concentrating on the lights – perhaps on the end go the first quote – seemed pertinent to me at the time.
Didn’t watch any buildup but I heard somewhere in the broadcast that RB ran a lot less rear wing than anyone else – maybe why they had less joy under DRS ie. his race would have been quite a lot better if he’d been able to overtake, Ocon for a start.
Jere (@jerejj)
10th June 2024, 17:04
I managed to notice that very small movement on the T-cam view replay footage with the lights still on.
Tristan
10th June 2024, 17:10
Fairs fair… This would have got by the old understanding I bet, but I’m still glad they changed it, even if Ricciardo was the one that got bit first.
I think he kind of lucked out here due to the mistakes made around him. But it was one of those races where not making mistakes was rewarded.
Dex
10th June 2024, 17:43
Talks about rules tend to go on without end, but if he didn’t cross the line and didn’t move immediately before the start signal, he gained nothing.
I don’t mind the rules, but it definitely sucks for him. Still, 5 seconds seems like a very lenient penalty for an illegal start (he gained nothing, but someone will some day). People now get 10 sec for far less provable and obvious things that can fall under grey area. Here things are always (or at least should be) pretty straightforward.
SteveP
10th June 2024, 18:33
I think every fan can probably pull up instances of their particular favourite driver falling foul of some rule by a miniscule amount in a circumstance that can be shown to have been no advantage.
e.g. LH, pit lane speed in a stream of traffic through the pit lane behind the safety car.
Next example anyone?
Nick T.
11th June 2024, 13:38
Well, he wouldn’t have been behind them without the technical fault that wasn’t his doing earning him a penalty, a number were also ahead only due to not stopping for a tire change and keeping it on track while others don’t, like you said yourself, is performance itself (only Alex wasn’t guilty of taking himself out).
Matthijs (@matthijs)
10th June 2024, 19:20
Not so long ago the penalty for a jump start was a stop and go penalty, the equivalent of about 30 seconds. That felt always too hard for me. But 5 seconds is pretty lenient.
Tommy Scragend
10th June 2024, 19:45
In Canada in 1990 Berger finished first on the road, 45 seconds ahead of Senna, but got a one minute penalty for a jump start and was classified fourth.
Now that is harsh!