Vettel penalty given 'in fairness' to Ricciardo

Daniel Ricciardo believes that, although Sebastian Vettel's penalty for allegedly speeding up during a red flag period in free practice for the United States Grand Prix was harsh, that it was awarded "in fairness" to him as he was previously penalised for a similar error.

In Friday's practice, Charles Leclerc ventured off the track towards a portion of the circuit covered in gravel, and when he returned he brought some gravel back over, resulting in a red flag period.

Vettel noticeably slowed down, but was penalised by the stewards anyway. Ricciardo received a grid penalty at the Australian Grand Prix for the same infraction, and he reckons that Vettel's punishment is the officials being consistent.

“Like mine it wasn’t actually for a stranded car on track, there wasn’t any danger – it was for the gravel," the Red Bull driver said.

"A bit of common sense should sometimes prevail.

#Quali ends with #Seb5 P2 1:32.298 and #Kimi7 P3 1:32.307!! It was down to the wire #USGP #ForzaFerrari pic.twitter.com/jLfHMBMzxn — Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) 20 October 2018

“But I think actually out of fairness to me the stewards were like ‘well we gave Ricciardo the penalty earlier in the year so it’s unfair if we don’t give you the penalty because we think you’ve done pretty much the same thing.’

“In a way I applaud the stewards for doing that but I really think none of us should be getting penalties for that. We shouldn’t be speeding but it’s not like there’s someone upside down on the track, that’s a different story.”

During a red flag period, drivers are asked to match their speed within the outlines set out by a specific delta, rather than slowing down. Ricciardo admits he simply forgot this rule when he was punished.

“I don’t know what it was for Seb but in my case I just forgot the rule," he continued.

“I slowed down but I forgot you have to follow the delta, so I slowed down to what I thought was safe but it wasn’t under that delta time but my intentions were right. I don’t know if Seb had the same answer.

“It’s a rule, it’s fair enough. I don’t know, probably it’s just a penalty thing maybe it should be a reprimand. Anyway, today I’m glad – thanks stewards!”

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