Ricciardo defends Vettel weighbridge ire - calls for rule change

Daniel Ricciardo fully understands the frustration felt by Sebastian Vettel in qualifying at Interlagos, when the Ferrari driver failed to comply with a weighbridge procedure in the heat of the action.

Vettel was called to the weighbridge in Q2 at a crucial moment of the session, when rain threatened his ability to register a lap time and make the cut to Q3.

An angry Vettel refused to shut off his engine as required by the rules, and then inadvertently destroyed the scales as he moved off the weighbridge on his own power, a move that landed him in hot water with the stewards who hit the German with a hefty 25,000 euro fine and a reprimand.

• Vettel reprimanded and fined - but keeps front row spot

Ricciardo sympathized with his former Red Bull team mate however, and called for a review of the weighbridge procedure.

"If I was in his position, I would be frustrated as well, because rain is coming, he hasn’t set a lap yet and in simple terms they are postponing his qualifying and putting him at risk," Ricciardo said.

"I’m sure we are going to talk about it in Abu Dhabi now, but we might have to try and add something in, like you can only be called if you have set a lap.

"I think calling you in before you have set a lap, they are kind of controlling your qualifying session, which I think is a bit unfair. So from that point of view, I will sympathise I would say."

Ricciardo said the crux of the problem was the mandatory shut-down of the engine and its time-consuming drawback for a driver pressured to register a lap time.

"You’ve got to switch your car off, that’s the thing, and then the mechanics have got to come and start it up. I couldn’t put a time on it – more than a minute or something," added the Aussie.

"But if the weather is like that, it’s not ideal.

"They called me in in Suzuka when I had my problem and I hadn’t set a time, so I was a bit like ‘guys, why do you need me? I’ve done nothing’.

"But then they saw I had problems and let me go. I kind of feel we need to set a lap before they call us in."

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