Daniel Ricciardo has revealed that a clutch issue potentially resulted in his jump start at the Canadian Grand Prix, with the RB driver’s five-second penalty described as a “joke” by fans on social media.
Ricciardo produced a fine qualifying display to line up fifth on the grid at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, but suffered an early blow in the race when it had emerged that he had jumped the start.
Daniel Ricciardo overcomes jump start penalty to score points in Canada
Although his car did not appear to move before the lights went out, the Australian was soon hit with a five-second penalty.
The stewards’ decision enraged fans on social media, with some describing the penalty as a “joke” and others claiming Ricciardo had been “robbed.”
In changeable conditions, the 34-year-old bounced back from the setback to collect his first points in a grand prix this season. His only previous points in the F1 2024 season came in Miami, where he finished fourth in the sprint race.
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Ricciardo admitted to being “confused” when informed of the penalty, but conceded that he could feel the car “creeping” forward on the grid before the lights went out and put it down to a potential clutch problem.
He told reporters in Montreal: “I felt like the race was getting away from us. For the start itself we were drift city, so lost a couple of positions there. Around Turn 2, I remember Lewis [Hamilton] just literally breezing by me and I was Tokyo-ing it.
“I lost a bit there and then I got told we had a penalty.
“I was quite confused because I knew I didn’t jump the lights, but I recall maybe the car was creeping when I was looking at the lights, so I guess we probably had a a clutch issue. [That] would be my guess.”
Ricciardo feared his chance of points had gone after losing positions in the changing conditions, but was pleased to recover to eighth after a race of survival.
He added: “I had that [penalty] and then I think when the rain was coming, we pitted for a new inter and the others stayed out and we just lost track position there.
“I felt like the race was getting away from us, but then with the slick at the end we managed to claw our way back past some cars and fortunately get a nice little bag of points.
“So all in all happy. It’s hard to be perfect in these races, I made mistakes obviously.
“We were just trying to survive at times, so happy we got there in the end.”
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