Ricciardo's penalty a result of a Mexican marshal's actions

  • Published on 09 Nov 2018 19:51
  • comments 4
  • By: Fergal Walsh

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has confirmed that Daniel Ricciardo's five-place grid penalty for the Brazilian Grand Prix had to be served after a marshal in Mexico sprayed fire extinguisher foam onto the turbocharger two weeks ago.

Ricciardo was forced to retire from the race after his car was hit with a clutch issue which prevented him from taking his first podium since Monaco. As the car was being pushed away, a marshal opted to use the fire extinguisher as the car was lightly smoking.

“You can’t really blame them, the car was obviously smoking,” Horner told Sky during the second free practice session in Brazil. “They shot foam up the exhaust and as it solidifies in the turbo it’s terminated it. So he’ll take a five-place penalty. Hopefully on a track like this it’s actually not that big a penalty.”

Max Verstappen's Friday afternoon session at Interlagos got off to a slow start as his mechanics had to work on his car. Horner stated that the issue was a crack in the oil tower, which the team suspect began to split in Mexico, where he took his fifth F1 victory.

“The oil tower on the front of the engine has developed a crack so it was starting to leak oil in [the first] session," Horner said. "So it’s had to be changed. The guys have done a great job in getting the engine off the back and back on, replacing the part. Hopefully no more than a half-hour delay.

“The lucky thing is we suspect that crack may have started in Mexico because there was a little bit of oil loss in the race that couldn’t be accounted for. So actually probably pretty lucky that it got to the end of the race,” the Briton added.

Replies (4)

Login to reply
  • Unforrunate, but maybe unavoidable. Unless they coulda used a different extinguisher?

    • + 0
    • Nov 10 2018 - 05:55
  • boudy

    Posts: 1,168

    This is the first time I heard about that specific issue. Has anyone else heard this before on another f1 PU?

    • + 0
    • Nov 10 2018 - 07:29
    • I dont remember whether it has actually happened before, but the same concerns has been expressed before.

      • + 0
      • Nov 10 2018 - 13:29
  • RogerF1

    Posts: 501

    Foam is the only way with a suspected oil fire. A fire will reignite after water or CO2 types are used and with all the cowling I guess there is no easy access or visibility to determine location or what actually maybe on fire eg. electrical but foam up the hot exhaust would be pretty terminal. Lucky it didn’t take the whole engine.

    • + 0
    • Nov 11 2018 - 09:09

BE Grand Prix of Belgium

Local time 

BEGrand Prix of Belgium

Local time 

World Championship standings 2024

Show full world champion standings

Test calendar

See full test schedule

Related news

Give your opinion!

Will Bottas challenge Hamilton for the world championship in 2020?

Formula 1 Calendar - 2024

Date
Grand Prix
Circuit
-
Bahrain
29 - Mar 2
Bahrain
7 - Mar 9
Saudi Arabia
22 - Mar 24
Australia
5 - Apr 7
Japan
19 - Apr 21
China
3 - May 5
United States of America
17 - May 19
Italy
24 - May 26
Monaco
7 - Jun 9
Canada
21 - Jun 23
Spain
28 - Jun 30
Austria
5 - Jul 7
United Kingdom
19 - Jul 21
Hungary
26 - Jul 28
Belgium
23 - Aug 25
Netherlands
30 - Sep 1
Italy
13 - Sep 15
Azerbaijan
20 - Sep 22
Singapore
18 - Oct 20
United States of America
25 - Oct 27
Mexico
1 - Nov 3
Brazil
22 - Nov 24
United States of America
29 - Dec 1
Qatar
6 - Dec 8
United Arab Emirates
-
United Arab Emirates
See full schedule

Formula 1 Calendar - 2024

Date
Grand Prix & Circuit
29 - Mar 2
7 - Mar 9
Saudi Arabia Jeddah Street Circuit
22 - Mar 24
Australia Albert Park
5 - Apr 7
19 - Apr 21
3 - May 5
United States of America Miami International Autodrome
17 - May 19
24 - May 26
Monaco Monte Carlo
7 - Jun 9
21 - Jun 23
28 - Jun 30
Austria Red Bull Ring
5 - Jul 7
United Kingdom Silverstone
19 - Jul 21
Hungary Hungaroring
26 - Jul 28
23 - Aug 25
Netherlands Circuit Zandvoort
30 - Sep 1
Italy Monza
13 - Sep 15
Azerbaijan Baku City Circuit
20 - Sep 22
18 - Oct 20
United States of America Circuit of the Americas
25 - Oct 27
1 - Nov 3
Brazil Interlagos
22 - Nov 24
United States of America Las Vegas Street Circuit
29 - Dec 1
6 - Dec 8
United Arab Emirates Yas Marina Circuit
-
United Arab Emirates Yas Marina Circuit
See full schedule

Driver profile

  • Team Red Bull Racing
  • Points 3,024
  • Podiums 112
  • Grand Prix 209
  • Country NL
  • Date of b. Sep 30 1997 (27)
  • Place of b. Hasselt (Belgie), NL
  • Weight 70 kg
  • Length 1.8 m
Show full profile
show sidebar