Daniel Ricciardo has been given a reprimand after the stewards ruled he failed to follow the race director’s instructions on practice starts.
Drivers had the opportunity to perform trial starts at the end of the final practice session. Ricciardo was among those that did.
The McLaren driver took up a position on the left-hand side of the grid as instructed. Carlos Sainz Jnr took the same side slot two rows ahead of him, and George Russell was immediately ahead of the Ferrari.
The race director’s instructions state that “under no circumstances should a driver make a practice start if another car is still stationary in front of him on the same side of the grid.” When Ricciardo pulled away Sainz was yet to move, and Russell had only just set off.
After reviewing video of the incident and speaking to Ricciardo and his team the stewards concluded he was in breach of the rules. “It was a clear that the driver performed a practice start in a manner contrary to the race director’s event notes,” they stated.
Ricciardo was issued a reprimand, which is his first of the season. Any driver who collects five reprimands is automatically given a 10-place grid drop for the next event.
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