Daniel Ricciardo reprimanded for Lance Stroll blocks in Q1

Daniel Ricciardo was reprimanded and McLaren cautioned for blocking Lance Stroll during qualifying for the Russian Grand Prix.

Both drivers eventually made it to Q3 in Sochi, with Ricciardo starting at P5 while Stroll will start from P8, but in Q1 these two drivers ended up in a difficult position.

Stroll complained of being handicapped by Ricciardo, who was asked by McLaren to slow down as his teammate Lando Norris approached along with Stroll.

The stewards ruled that the spray had impaired Ricciardo’s chance to see Stroll and the team was fined.

“The driver of car 3 [Ricciardo] was on a slower lap and was warned by the McLaren team that its teammate (Car 4) was approaching [Norris]“Read the stewards report.

“The view to the rear was impaired by the wetness and the driver of car 3 was not aware of the approach of car 18 and, in the opinion of the inspectors, would not have been able to see his approach until the last moment. In addition, there was the spray from car 4, which had just passed car 3.

“The competitor (McLaren F1 Team) admitted he made the wrong assumption that Car 18 was on a slow lap after having just done a fast lap. In fact, however, it drove consecutive fast laps due to the improving (but wet) track conditions.

“It therefore did not inform the driver of the presence of car 18. The commissioners noted that as soon as the driver of car 3 learned of the presence of car 18, he immediately took action to leave the line.

“The stewards have compared this situation to any other disabling case for the past two and a half seasons. In the opinion of the stewards, this bordered on an “unnecessary obstruction”, so it was a rule violation and required a penalty. However, taking all circumstances into account, reprimand was deemed the most appropriate and consistent punishment.

“However, the McLaren team clearly made a mistake by not closely monitoring the traffic behind Car 3, so an official warning is issued to the competitor stating that a similar mistake could result in additional money or money in the future competitor (and the corresponding driver) could result in another penalty for the driver. “

Respect.

Start tomorrow in strong starting positions, team. @landonorris @danielricciardo #RussianGP pic.twitter.com/0NjnfA7qEI

– McLaren (@ McLarenF1) September 25, 2021

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Ricciardo is therefore free to start the Russian Grand Prix from P5, while Norris will lead the field after securing his first F1 pole position.

And so Ricciardo was happy to praise his teammate’s performance.

“I think we did everything right – not as well as Lando, so congratulations to him on pole. It was a very good lap, a great lap, ”Ricciardo told reporters.

“But from a team perspective, it is solid to be first and fifth, two cars in the top five.”

P5 was comfortably Ricciardo’s highest position of the weekend so far, although he disagreed with the idea that Sochi is a track that doesn’t suit him.

That has to be answered in the race, he says, not after the “unicorn conditions” of qualifying.

“Yesterday I was definitely not fast. But when we looked at everything, the whole day was really interrupted, so it was difficult to really find a rhythm and get on, ”he said.

“Ask me tomorrow – today is of course unicorn conditions.

“I think we can be pretty excited. The grid is pretty mixed. Even as a fan, it should be a pretty exciting story tomorrow.

“I can imagine that most teams adjust the cars for the wet. If it’s dry tomorrow, the conditions are probably not optimal, the setup we’ll be riding, so the order could change too. Maybe some cars will cope better with it. “