Renault driver Daniel Ricciardo couldn't sleep after Singapore penalty

Daniel Ricciardo

Ricciardo couldn't sleep after Singapore penalty

Daniel speaking his mind.

Matthew Scott

Sunday 22 September 2019 17:58

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Daniel Ricciardo revealed that he was given a sleepless Saturday night after being kicked out of qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix.

Ricciardo was dropped from eighth to the back of the grid after his Renault was found to have "exceeded the MGU-K power limit of 120 kW" during Q1 at the Marina Bay Circuit.

Renault explained that the infringement had lasted for a microsecond of a slower lap in the session, but the stewards still took a heavy-handed approach.

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Ricciardo had looked like salvaging a potential points finish until a collision with Antonio Giovinazzi left him with a puncture and he came home 14th, with the events of the day before still fresh on the Australian's mind.

"It affected my sleep heavily. I was frustrated," Ricciardo said of his sanction.

"Just being honest now, it is hard to then switch off because you have so many scenarios running through your head, a lot of anger, and you feel hard done by because I've never pissed off anyone there personally. I don't have a grudge on anyone. I'd think just a bit of common sense would prevail.

"I'm running through all these scenarios in my head while I'm in bed trying to sleep. And therefore it is a bit of a restless night."

Ricciardo compared his offence to exceeding track limits, which is not treat with the same costly sanctions as his own transgression.

He said: "For me, it happened on one occurrence on one lap. If it was happening on the same corner every lap for the whole session I would not complain at all.

"But it's like track limits: you go off, gain an advantage, delete that lap. We didn't even gain an advantage from this yet they delete the whole session. So I was disgraced by that and voiced my opinion. I'll keep voicing it.

"They're doing great things on track, letting us race and all that. But then what's the point of not giving penalties on track for then giving a massive penalty for something that's out of my control?"