F1: Ricciardo Slapped with Miami Grid Penalty Following Safety Car Infringement

Red Bull Racing's Daniel Ricciardo faces a grid penalty at the upcoming Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix due to an incident during the Chinese Grand Prix. The penalty is because Ricciardo passed Nico Hulkenberg again while the safety car was in place. Valtteri Bottas's engine failure caused the safety car, followed by a crash involving Lance Stroll and Daniel Ricciardo during the first restart. The accident happened as the cars slowed down for Turn 14 at the end of the back straight. The accident between Stroll and Ricciardo's car did a lot of damage to both of them and let Hulkenberg pass them. But according to the rules, drivers can't pass during the safety car period. 

According to stewards, "The driver of Car 3 [Ricciardo] admitted that he overtook Car 27 [Hulkenberg] 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. We accordingly imposed a 10-second time penalty on Car 3. As Car 3 was unable to serve the penalty due to retirement, we imposed a three-grid place penalty to Car 3 for the next race in which the driver participates."

Ricciardo and Lance Stroll

There were many incidents that happened during the Chinese Grand Prix, but Stroll's crash with Ricciardo was the most serious. Before Max Verstappen could restart the race, Aston Martin's Lance Stroll lifted Daniel Ricciardo's car off the ground. Ricciardo pushed through after the Safety Car period was over, but his car was badly damaged so he had to retire. This setback made him complain in a very public way.

Because he was involved in the accident, Stroll got a 10-second penalty and two Super Licence punishment points. Though the accident was disappointing, Ricciardo did see improvements in his speed and car handling throughout the weekend, which was a positive outcome. Still, the disappointment of missing a chance to get his first points of the season added a bittersweet tone to the whole thing.