Ricciardo handed three-place grid penalty!

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Daniel Ricciardo's home race weekend has already been given a black eye, after the Red Bull driver was handed a three-place grid penalty for the Australian Grand Prix.

Ricciardo had been reported to the race stewards for going too fast under the red flag conditions midway through FP2.

The interruption came after timing wires appeared to be breaking through the tarmac on the start-finish line. Race control had no option but to suspend the session while the problem was taken care of.

Ricciardo had been on his qualifying simulation lap when the red flag came in. He was forced to abort the lap and return to the garage.

However, on the way back he went too fast. In doing so, he earned himself a summons to the stewards office after the end of Friday's track activity.

After reviewing video and data evidence and speaking to Ricciardo himself, the stewards decided that he was in breach of regulations.

The stewards did acknowledge that Ricciardo had slowed significantly in the final corners. Unfortunately he still completed the lap too fast after misreading his dash display.

"Article 31.6 was added this year to ensure that drivers reduce speed sufficiently during a red flag,” a statement from the race stewards explained.

“Breach of this regulation is seen to be an extremely serious matter.

FP2: Hamilton continues to set the pace in Melbourne on Friday

"However, in this case, the stewards thoroughly reviewed the breach and found that the driver slowed significantly, such that no danger was created, and that the driver proceeded with due care.

"The stewards therefore are imposing a lesser penalty than usual."

The three-place penalty means that Ricciardo can start Sunday's race no higher than fourth place, even if he wins tomorrow's Q3 pole shoot-out.

In addition to the grid drop, Ricciardo has received two penalty points on his superlicence.

It's not the first time that Ricciardo has fallen foul of the authorities at his home race. In 2014 he crossed the line in second place only to be disqualified for a fuel flow irregularity.

As a result his previous best result in Melbourne is fourth place in 2016. He failed to finish last year's race after suffering a power unit problem. That was after starting the race from 15th place after a five place penalty for a gear box change.

At some point, Dan the Man's luck down under must surely change for the better!

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.