Daniel Ricciardo will start what could be the final race of his Formula 1 career with a grid penalty.
That punishment was handed out after he caused a crash which took both himself and Kevin Magnussen out of the race in Sao Paulo on Sunday. Their Brazilian Grand Prix lasted for less than a minute, as a result of the contact instigated by the Australian.
As they battled for position in the early exchanges, Ricciardo began to make a move on the Haas driver going into Turn 8. After quickly realising he had misjudged it the Aussie tried to back out, but could not slow down in time to prevent his McLaren from making contact.
Magnussen was spun around, which on its own would not have been enough to take either out of the race. But as the Haas span it then slammed into the side of Ricciardo's car as he tried to move past, meaning both would have an early trip back to the paddock.
First lap incidents are usually treated with some leniency by the stewards, considering how many cars are in such close proximity to one another. But they felt Ricciardo was "wholly to blame" for causing this particular crash, and so they needed to make sure he was punished accordingly.
As he was out of the race in Brazil, a time penalty would not have affected him. So instead, he will serve a three-place grid drop next weekend in Abu Dhabi – which may well be his final F1 race as he is set to drop off the grid next season.
"Ricciardo made contact with Magnussen at Turn 8 on lap one, which caused Magnussen to spin, and subsequently both cars crashed," said the stewards in their justification. "McLaren explained that in their view Magnussen was slower at the exit of Turn 8 than the other cars ahead, which made it difficult to judge the closing rate, as the two cars interacted.
"Ricciardo explained that in his view, he had slowed sufficiently that he was not going to collide with Magnussen and that he slightly misjudged it. The Stewards acknowledged that the incident was not reckless. However, they determined that the incident was between two cars and was not influenced by multiple other cars and is therefore not a 'first lap incident'.
"The Stewards determined that Magnussen drove in a normal manner for that corner, and that he did not make any erratic moves. Thus the Stewards determine that Ricciardo was wholly to blame for the incident and issue a drop of three grid places for the next event."
