Ricciardo gets Miami grid penalty for passing Hulkenberg under safety car

Daniel Ricciardo has been given a three-place grid penalty for the next race in Miami after passing Nico Hulkenberg under the safety car during the Chinese Grand Prix.

Hulkenberg had overtaken both Lance Stroll and Ricciardo when the Aston Martin ran into the back of the RB at the hairpin before a safety car restart at the end of lap 26, with the move allowed because the regulations state a car can overtake “If any car slows with an obvious problem.”

However, Ricciardo believed that Hulkenberg’s move should note have been permitted, so when the safety car was deployed less than a lap later due to Yuki Tsunoda retiring and debris on track, the Australian re-took the place from the Haas under safety car conditions.

The stewards stated there was “no justifiable basis” for Ricciardo to do so, and handed him a three-place grid penalty for the next round in Miami.

“The driver of Car 3 admitted that he overtook Car 27 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.”

As the penalty refers to “the next race” it is understood Ricciardo will have to serve the grid penalty in the Sprint at Miami, as grid penalties earned during a Sprint in the same way would be applied to the following day’s grand prix.