Ricciardo penalised after Brazilian disaster

Daniel Ricciardo will start his final race for McLaren at Abu Dhabi on the back foot after being adjusted “wholly” to blame for the race-ending shunt with Kevin Magnussen on the opening lap of the Sao Paulo Grand Prix this morning.

Ricciardo was handed a three-place grid penalty for the season finale of the 2022 Formula One season at the Yas Marina Circuit, which could also be his final ever drive at the pinnacle of motorsport with his future still unclear.

Starting from P11 Ricciardo was hungry for points in Brazil and appeared to attempt a late lunge on Magnussen as the pair entered the tight right-hander at turn 8.

After being unable to get up far enough, the Australian tried to back out, but could not avoid sending the Dane into a spin after contact between the left-front and the right-rear ends of the respective cars.

To make matters worse, Magnussen pirouetted across the track and back into the path of Ricciardo.

This time the left-rears of both cars made heavy contact with the McLaren flying into the barriers, forcing both to retire on the spot and bring out the safety car with debris strewn across the circuit.

Daniel Ricciardo’s São Paulo Grand Prix ended in the barriers at Autódromo José Carlos Pace this morning.Photo by Andy Hone / LAT Images

For Ricciardo it was a disappointing way to end his penultimate race for the Woking outfit which is releasing him from a full-time seat next year, while it was an even tougher peel to swallow for Magnussen, who was pumped up for a big result after scoring a sensational pole position on Friday.

Reflecting on the incident Ricciardo was gutted after the “brutal” accident.

“Lap one incidents are brutal. I do not think there is anything worse,” he told F1.com.

“The start was solid, I had (Pierre) Gasly and I have not seen a replay yet, but what I remember was that I had a decent run through (turns) 6, 7 and cut back to the inside for 8 and I was kind of having a look, but also trying to brake with a little bit of clean air.

“Then I remember Kevin protecting the line, so I was just trying to pull back in line and follow suit and then at the apex I gave him a little touch.

“It did not feel like much, but then the second part was when we made bigger contact.

“I do not know if I could have braked harder or if it was the way he squared up the corner, but I am sorry for both of us not being in the race and the teams. That is the part that hurts the most.”

Despite such a hopeful and important race in Haas’ fight for P8 with AlphaTauri in the constructors title being cut short so quickly, Magnussen did not hold any grudges saying Ricciardo “did not do it on purpose”.

“That was a race I wanted to be part of because our car had great pace all week, but it is what it is,” he said to f1.com.

“Dan did not do it on purpose, but it is no use for us and we move on.

“We are not always up here where we have been this weekend, so it is a shame we could not capitalise fully.”

Kevin Magnussen went from the high of scoring pole position on Friday to the low of being taken out on lap 1. Photo by Mark Sutton / Sutton Images

In addition to the three-piece grid drop, two penalty points have been applied to the Australian’s license with the stewards believing blame lied with the McLaren after analysing a number of angles.

“The stewards reviewed the video from several angles and reviewed GPS data presented by the McLaren team and telemetry from their own sources,” the stewards’ statement read.

“Ricciardo made contact with Magnussen at Turn 8 on Lap 1, which caused Magnussen to spin, and subsequently both cars crashed. 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.”

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