Breaking news
Formula 1 Brazilian GP
Marshal's fire extinguisher caused Ricciardo turbo penalty
Daniel Ricciardo needed to take a new turbo for the Brazilian Grand Prix because a marshal damaged his old one beyond repair with fire extinguisher chemicals in Mexico.
Jonathan Noble
Edited: Nov 10, 2018, 2:54 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
The unlucky Australian has been hit with a five-place grid penalty at Interlagos this weekend for taking the new power unit element, as a legacy of what happened in the moments after his retirement at the recent Mexico race.
Red Bull team boss Christian Horner has revealed that, as marshals moved to put out a small fire on Ricciardo’s car, extinguisher chemicals got sprayed into the turbo and damaged it.
Speaking to Sky, Horner said: “Obviously the marshals are doing the prudent thing, and they have seen a bit of smoke.
“You can see flames coming out of the back there, so you cannot blame the marshal really – he is putting out a fire.
"But then he has rammed a load of fire foam up the exhaust and it has then solidified in the turbo, and that was the end of that. It ruined the turbo.
“The other turbo that Daniel has in his pool was on the engine that failed in Austin, and Renault was saying that every time they have run a turbo when they have had a failure like that, they normally stop after 400km. So we don’t really want to put him in that position.”
Ricciardo himself admitted that, having been annoyed after the retirement, his mood was not helped when he was later told about the turbo problem.
"I got a phone call last week notifying me of what happened when we broke down in Mexico," he said. "I think the marshals put the extinguisher straight up the exhaust and went to town, and that damaged the turbo.
"I’d kind of got over it [the Mexico retirement] that week and then I got that call… But it is what it is."
Verstappen crack
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB14
Photo by: Manuel Goria / Sutton Images
While Ricciardo has continued to suffer bad luck, Horner says that his teammate Max Verstappen appears to have been fortunate to have finished the race in Mexico without problems.
That is because the team suspects that a crack in an oil tower that cost Verstappen track time at the start of second practice in Brazil had probably started during the Mexican GP.
“They think it is something that might have actually started in Mexico,” he said. “So actually it makes Mexico even more fortuitous.”
Although Verstappen was fastest in opening practice in Brazil, Horner is sceptical about the prospects of fighting for the top grid spots this weekend.
“I think that unfortunately the altitude is not high enough here,” he said. “You can see the car is great in the middle sector, we are okay in the first sector – it is the last sector that is a bit painful for us.
“So, if we can get a car on the second row here, we have got good race pace. You can see the others were blistering their tyres quicker than us here, so come Sunday, especially if the temperature increases, we are in good shape.”
Additional reporting by Adam Cooper
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Tough to call: Bottas edges Hamilton and Vettel in Brazilian F1 GP Practice
Next article Vettel: Loose screw prompted cheeky radio joke
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Jonathan Noble
Brundle awarded OBE in King’s New Year’s honours
Formula 1
Formula 1 Dec 31, 2024
Brundle awarded OBE in King’s New Year’s honours
The new rules dilemma that will define the 2025 F1 season
Formula 1
Formula 1 Dec 31, 2024
The new rules dilemma that will define the 2025 F1 season
Verstappen issues Red Bull title warning in push for RB21 progress
Formula 1
Formula 1
Australian GP
Dec 28, 2024
Verstappen issues Red Bull title warning in push for RB21 progress
More from
Daniel Ricciardo
“I was getting beat up” – How Daniel Ricciardo burned out on ‘humiliating’ F1 return
Formula 1
Formula 1 16 h
“I was getting beat up” – How Daniel Ricciardo burned out on ‘humiliating’ F1 return
Why Daniel Ricciardo is staying away from the F1 paddock
Formula 1
Formula 1 9 d
Why Daniel Ricciardo is staying away from the F1 paddock
Why Daniel Ricciardo would consider a comeback at Le Mans
WEC
WEC 15 d
Why Daniel Ricciardo would consider a comeback at Le Mans
More from
Red Bull Racing
Tsolov named Red Bull, Racing Bulls reserve driver after missing out on 2027 F1 race seat
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
1 d
Tsolov named Red Bull, Racing Bulls reserve driver after missing out on 2027 F1 race seat
Latest news
McLaren to upgrade MCL40 car at its bogey F1 track Las Vegas
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Las Vegas GP
5 min
McLaren to upgrade MCL40 car at its bogey F1 track Las Vegas
Carson Hocevar and Cleetus McFarland win LeMullets 2026 in epic finish
General
Misc General 4 h
Carson Hocevar and Cleetus McFarland win LeMullets 2026 in epic finish
TV ratings released for NASCAR Cup season finale
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
11 h
TV ratings released for NASCAR Cup season finale
Chase Elliott's car chief leaves Hendrick for NASCAR Truck crew chief role
NASCAR Truck
NSTR NASCAR Truck
Homestead
12 h
Chase Elliott's car chief leaves Hendrick for NASCAR Truck crew chief role
Feature
Discover prime content
Top 10 F1 cars of the 1970s
Formula 1
By Kevin Turner
Top 10 F1 cars of the 1970s
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe