Red Bull dominated the Monaco Grand Prix, not just winning the race but being fastest throughout practice and taking pole position. However, their hopes of making this year’s F1 title race a three-way battle with Mercedes and Ferrari have been hit with Daniel Ricciardo due to receive a grid penalty for this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix and more could be on the way.
Last year it was McLaren who continually received grid penalties for too many engine changes, this year Red Bull look set to fill that role.
Ricciardo Faces Minimum Ten-Place Penalty
source: hisense.com.au
Daniel Ricciardo is the driver who will be affected this weekend. He won the Monaco Grand Prix but struggled for most of the race with engine problems and that’s what will cause him to incur a grid penalty this weekend, though Red Bull aren’t sure just how many places the Australian will be penalised, it’s likely to be at least ten.
The big problem for Ricciardo is that his Red Bull’s engine suffered a failure of the MGU-K and cars are only allowed to use two of those for the whole season. Ricciardo’s car has already used the permitted two and it’s early in the season.
Red Bull’s chief technical officer Adrian Newey dismissed rumours that the second MGU-K may still be able to be used thus preventing the grid penalties. “I rather doubt it, considering it caught fire and was a burnt out charred wreck,” he told Reuters. “I would be somewhat surprised at that one,” he joked
More Problems Lie Ahead
A new upgraded engine is being used by Red Bull this weekend, but it only adds about a tenth of a second and isn’t expected to be too much of a game-changer for Ricciardo and his team-mate Max Verstappen.
More problems lie ahead as Ricciardo has also used up the maximum number of battery and control electronics. If they need charging, then that’s another five places down the grid for the Australian. Red Bull are yet to hear back from Renault if the battery was damaged during the Monaco Grand Prix.
Ricciardo’s win in Monaco took him to within 38 points of championship leader Lewis Hamilton but his title hopes look doomed now despite having already won two races this season Despite his successes it’s not been a trouble-free season for the Australian with an engine problem forcing him out of the Bahrain Grand Prix and the crash with Verstappen in Azerbaijan.
Verstappen in Trouble Too
source: autoweek.com
It’s not just Daniel Ricciardo who faces continual grid penalties this season. Max Verstappen’s Red Bull is on his last MGU-K so one more change will see him slipping down the grid.
Red Bull already had problems trying to close the gap between Mercedes and Ferrari. Both of those teams have an extra engine power ‘mode’ that they use in the closing stages of qualifying and Red Bull don’t have that. So, on most tracks, they are unlikely to get onto the first two rows of the grid with or without penalties.
source featured image: Calibre11.com
