Ricciardo expecting more engine grid penalties

Daniel Ricciardo does not expect his engine grid penalty at Monza to be his last this season. The Australian will fit Renault's 'spec C' engine to the back of his car, which will take him over the allocated limit of 3 engines for the entire season.

Renault says that the new engine will be worth three-tenths of a second round Monza, however it has admitted that it is less reliable than the previous specification. Although he is starting from the back of the grid, Ricciardo is aiming for a podium this weekend.

“I don’t know if I’ll start 19th or 20th, I think [Nico] Hulkenberg has some penalties from last week,” said Ricciardo. "I still want a podium here. The podium looks so good here! I’m hoping for some crazy race that gets me on the podium.

“I’ll try [the updated engine] on Friday then we’ll make a decision what to expect with it. I always try not to expect too much, I think it’s natural over the last few years.

“I expect to see something but whether it’s one-tenth, two-tenths, three-tenths, we’ll see. But if there’s an improvement that’s better than not. I do expect an improvement from it but I couldn’t tell you in terms of lap time from it. A few tenths would be nice.”

The 29-year-old is aiming to stay penalty free for Singapore in two weeks, as it is likely to be Red Bull's best opportunity to win a race in the remaining Grands Prix. However, he is expecting another grid drop to come in the final number of races.

“It’s likely I’ll have another one [penalty] at some point,” he said. “If we could get from Singapore through without any penalties I think that would be above target for now. So it’s likely I’ll have another one at some point.”