Canadian Grand Prix: Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo escapes grid penalty

  • Published
Daniel RicciardoImage source, Reuters
Image caption,

Daniel Ricciardo dived into a swimming pool after winning the Monaco Grand Prix last month, his second win of 2018

Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo has escaped a grid penalty at this weekend's Canadian Grand Prix.

Chief technical officer Adrian Newey said on Monday that Ricciardo would "definitely" have a penalty after an engine part failed in his Monaco win.

But on Thursday Ricciardo said Red Bull would be able to replace the broken part with one used at a previous race.

The Australian, 28, said when he heard "whispers" of a Canada penalty he said he would prefer it at a later race.

Ricciardo suffered a failure of his MGU-K, a part of the hybrid system, during the Monaco Grand Prix. Newey said it "caught fire and was a burnt out, charred wreck".

But Red Bull said they had been able to re-use an MGU-K from the engine that suffered a turbo failure in final practice at the Chinese Grand Prix.

"All I know is I have been told there is no penalty," Ricciardo said.

"If something happens in practice then we will be forced to change something and I will get a penalty, but for now, we still have enough parts to run and, if it is reliable, we will do the whole weekend with it."

Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Ricciardo's Monaco win put him third in the drivers' championship, 38 points behind Lewis Hamilton

He said, however, that a grid penalty for excessive engine usage was inevitable - perhaps as early as the next race in France.

"It could come as soon as Paul Ricard, but when I heard whispers of a penalty here I was 'I'll take it at Paul Ricard, but not here'," he said.

"Having such good momentum at the moment, a penalty would take a bit of wind out of our sails. I would rather take it somewhere else.

"We feel on paper this circuit should suit us more than some of the others coming up, winning two in a row would be nice so we will try."

Red Bull will benefit from an engine upgrade for the Canadian race, after Renault introduced a revised and improved internal combustion engine for their works team and both their customers, including McLaren.

Red Bull say they believe the upgrade is worth about 0.1 seconds a lap.

Canadian Grand Prix coverage details

Date

Session

Time

Radio coverage

Online text & audio commentary

Friday, 8 June

First practice

14:55-16:35

BBC Radio 5 live sport extra

From 14:30

Second practice

18:55-20:35

BBC Sport website

From 18:30

Preview

21:35-22:00

BBC Radio 5 live

Saturday, 9 June

Final practice

15:55-17:05

BBC Sport website

From 15:30

Qualifying

18:55-20:35

BBC Radio 5 live sport extra

From 18:00

Sunday, 10 June

Race

18:30-21:00

BBC Radio 5 live

From 17:00

Monday, 11 June

Review & podcast

04:30

BBC Radio 5 live

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