Drivers want more deterrents - Ricciardo

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Daniel Ricciardo says F1 drivers want to be punished when they make mistakes, following comments from Bernie Ecclestone regarding run-off areas.

Ecclestone is quoted as saying he wants "40cm walls around the corners" to deter drivers from running off the track, which would also create more drama. While the quotes were acknowledged as potentially tongue-in-cheek, Ricciardo says he prefers having walls marking track limits.

“It’s tough because we always talk about safety but I think walls are actually pretty good," Ricciardo said. "Even like Monaco, if you slide into the wall it’s just there and that’s it. I like the idea of walls that they are a permanent thing.

"It’s like Lewis [Hamilton] in Monaco when he was defending me and cut through the chicane, if there was a wall there, happy days, I win the race. I’m not a fan of the real open stuff, at least have something there that is a deterrent.”

And the Australian says the drivers often discuss among themselves how to increase the punishment for mistakes.

“Yeah we always talk about it in driver briefings. Whether it’s bringing some gravel back or these sort of speed bump kerb things are doing the job in some areas. So it’s improving, but I think it’s more when a driver can just run off wide and come back on track and not really pay a penalty. That’s where it’s a bit where you’re like at least have some penalty to pay.

"At the end of the day if you go off wide, you lock a brake or whatever but you’ve missed the apex, you’ve made a mistake so you should lose some time for making a mistake. I think that’s the thing that frustrates me more, it allows too many of us to be less than perfect and it makes us look less good as well if we’re always making mistakes and not paying any penalty for it.”

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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.