Ricciardo set to avoid Canada F1 grid penalty

Daniel Ricciardo does not need to take a grid penalty for this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix despite the initial fears of the Red Bull Formula 1 team.

Ricciardo won last time out in Monaco despite suffering a failure on his MGU-K, requiring a change for Canada, while engine supplier Renault is also bringing a major update to its power unit to the grand prix in Montreal.

Red Bull technical chief Adrian Newey said earlier this week that Ricciardo would “definitely” be taking a grid penalty for exceeding his allowance of power unit elements for the season, only for the team to discover upon arrival in Canada that this was not the case.

“Currently no. The answer is no,” Ricciardo said when asked if he’d have to take a penalty.

“Obviously if something happens in practice then we will probably have to take one, but no. No is the answer today.

“I’ve been told that there is no penalty. If something happens in practice then and we are forced to change something then I will get a penalty.

“But for now, we still have enough parts to run, and if it runs reliable we will do the whole weekend with it.”

However, Ricciardo conceded that he is by no means out of the woods when it comes to engine penalties in 2018, saying he may face a drop as soon as the next race in France.

“It could come as soon as Paul Ricard. When I heard whispers of taking a penalty here, at that point I was like ‘I will take it in Paul Ricard but not here’,” Ricciardo said.

“This is such a difficult circuit for overtaking. And having such good momentum at the moment, I think a penalty would take a bit of wind out of our sails.

“If we can escape this weekend without it, then I’d rather take it somewhere else.” 

Ricciardo heads into this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix sitting third in the drivers’ championship, 38 points behind points leader Lewis Hamilton. The Australian is remaining realistic about his title chances, though, saying he remains an outsider to the main battle.

“There is a chance, it is still an outside chance. I would say it is probably the most realistic chance we’ve had in the last few years,” Ricciardo said.

“It is still an outside because even we are a bit quicker than let’s say Lewis, it is still a lot of points to catch on him. It is not like the season is starting today. We are 40 points behind him, it is still a big gap, so we need to be really superior to really win the championship.

“We have a chance to match him for example, over the course of the season, but can we be significantly better? I think that is still an outside chance.”