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Daniel Ricciardo has been given a 3-place grid penalty for overtaking Nico Hulkenberg during a safety car period. The penalty will be applicable at the next race in Miami, as the Australian had already retired from the race and hence could not take the penalty in China.
The incident in question was Ricciardo retaking the position from Nico Hulkenberg after the German overtook the Australian just before the end of the first safety car period. As the cars were getting ready for the first safety car restart, Ricciardo was hit from behind by Lance Stroll, who misjudged his breaking point.
As a result, Hulkenberg, who was right behind the two and saw the collision, opted to overtake both drivers and take the restart. After the first safety car period, however, the second safety car period began on the very next lap when Kevin Magnussen and Yuki Tsunoda had a collision. During this period, Daniel Ricciardo overtook the Germans, and this move was under investigation.
According to the stewards, Nico Hulkenberg was not given a penalty because the German saw two drivers collide in front of him, and Daniel Ricciardo had no such mitigating factors in play. Hence, the German did not get any penalty while the Australian got a 3-place grid drop for the next race.
The FIA's press release said:
"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."
Daniel Ricciardo furious at Lance Stroll after the race
Daniel Ricciardo was furious at Lance Stroll after the race when he found out that the Canadian had blamed the Australian for the incident. Ricciardo had calmed down before he fronted the media but when it was revealed to him that Lance felt the Australian was responsible for the crash, he was visibly angry.
In a race weekend where Ricciardo had outperformed his teammate, the Australian was frustrated by how it ended. He was even more angry at the Canadian and told the Race:
“I’d slowly started to calm down and then I was told what Lance thinks of the incident. And apparently I'm an idiot. And it was my fault. So, that made my blood boil. Because it's clear as day - and it's also behind a safety car."
He added:
“The only thing you've got to do is watch the car in front, we can't predict what the leader is going to do. We can't assume that we're going to go in Turn 14. I'm doing my best not to say what I want to say. But f**k that guy – and I'm being nice still. But if that's what he thinks, I'm like… yeah.”
It will be interesting to see what Lance Stroll has to say about the incident when he watches it again because the first reactions are always in the heat of the moment.
