Daniel Ricciardo, 3 grid relegation penalties in the last round of the Abu Dhabi F1 GP… contact with Magnussen on the first lap[F1-Gate.com]

Daniel Ricciardo has been handed a three-place grid penalty for the upcoming F1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix with McLaren and possibly his last F1 race. The stewards ruled that Ricciardo made a “complete mistake” in contact with Kevin Magnussen (Haas F1 Team) on the opening ramp of the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Daniel Ricciardo, behind Kevin Magnussen, who took a sensational first pole position in Friday qualifying, hit the rear of the Haas F1 car at Turn 8 on the opening lap and spun.

Both drivers could have avoided retirement had Kevin Magnussen’s VF-22 not got into the path of Daniel Ricciardo and pinned his McLaren into the barrier.

The stewards heard from both drivers after the race and granted Daniel Ricciardo three grid demotions and two penalty points for his license in F1’s latest Abu Dhabi GP.

“The stewards reviewed the video from several angles and reviewed the GPS data presented by the McLaren team and telemetry from their own sources,” the stewards explained.

“Ricciardo’s contact with Magnussen at Turn 8 on the first lap sent Magnussen spinning and then both cars crashed. The McLaren, according to them, Magnussen was ahead of the other cars coming out of Turn 8. It was slow and the interaction between the two cars made it difficult to judge the rate of closeness.”

“Ricciardo explained that in his opinion he slowed enough to avoid a collision with Magnussen, and that he misjudged that slightly.

“The stewards recognized that the crash was not reckless. I decided it was not.”

“The stewards determined that Magnussen drove into that corner in a normal manner and made no unusual movements. 3 relegation on the grid from

Daniel Ricciardo’s teammate Lando Norris later retired from the race with an electrical problem, leaving McLaren with no points at Interlagos.

Category: F1 / Daniel Ricardo / mclaren / Brazilian F1 Grand Prix / Formula 1 GP in Abu Dhabi