Daniel Ricciardo will serve a three-place grid penalty at the 2022 F1 season finale Abu Dhabi GP after he was judged to be at fault for his collision with Kevin Magnussen at the Brazilian GP.
Ricciardo went into the back of the Haas driver in the first lap as the field concertinaed in the tight Interlagos midfield, spinning him around and forcing him to retire due to the damage.
In trying to avoid Magnussen, Ricciardo’s car was caught as it spun around and he was also sent into the barriers and out of the race.
The incident brought about an abrupt end for Magnussen’s weekend, which was one of the best Haas have recorded in F1 after the Dane secured a dramatic pole position in qualifying with a lap set at the start of the session which was brought to a close following a crash by George Russell.
“Ricciardo made contact with Magnussen at Turn 8 on lap one, which caused
Magnussen to spin, and subsequently both cars crashed. McLaren explained that in
their view Magnussen was slower at the exit of turn eight than the other cars ahead,
which made it difficult to judge the closing rate, as the two cars interacted,” the FIA said in its decision document.
“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.”
Ricciardo wholly to blame
The FIA added that while Ricciardo had not driven carelessly in the build-up to the incident, the blame for the crash lay at the Australian’s door as it was an isolated event between two drivers and so not subject to the usual leniency applied for first-lap collisions.
“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 FIA said.
“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.”
