Ricciardo rues starting on damp side after Raikkonen penalty

2016 Japanese Grand Prix

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Daniel Ricciardo said Kimi Raikkonen’s gearbox change penalty worked against him as it meant he had to start from the damp side of the track.

The Red Bull driver reckoned that spoiled his start in the Japanese Grand Prix.

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“I think Raikkonen’s gearbox penalty this morning was sort of the opposite of a blessing in disguise,” he said. “It put me on the wet side of the grid and it looked like all of us on that inside line struggled the most, especially [Lewis] Hamilton.”

Hamilton said the damp patches on their side of the track didn’t affect his start, which was worse than Ricciardo’s, meaning the Red Bull driver had to dodge around him.

“I don’t think my initial launch was that bad, but then having to go around him I sort of crossed the wet patch and lost out to [Sergio] Perez,” said Ricciardo.

Ricciardo said he also had difficulty following other cars closely.

“We struggled to stay close, just seemed like we couldn’t really follow the cars that well with the dirty air and we didn’t really have the straight line speed to make an attack. We saw [Sebastian] Vettel make quick work of me and the first lap he caught Perez, he got him.”

“We just struggled in traffic today and that was pretty much that. We fell behind the eight ball from that first stint.”

“I didn’t feel there was anything else we could do, it was just sort of circumstances how the race panned out. The last stint we finally got some clean air and it looked like we could put in some quick times at the beginning. But in the end we’d conceded [fifth] and that was it.”

2016 Japanese Grand Prix

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    Keith Collantine
    Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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    21 comments on “Ricciardo rues starting on damp side after Raikkonen penalty”

    1. No run of the green for Dan this weekend

    2. the car behind you also was on damp patch so is car ahead if you dont remember and the car behind you made a sublime start

    3. Excuses. Unless at least half of the drivers who started on the damp side had a bad start, losing at least 1 place, this remains just 1 pathetic excuse. Let’s not forget that he actually advanced 2 places since both Ferraris had to go back 5 places compared to the Quali positions! So, yeah, I think he was actually lucky this race to have 2 faster cars being “placed” behind him at the green table.

      1. Did you read, he basically said it was the same for everybody on that side. He also states the Ferrari’s were behind. He just said it was not such a great blessing. So he acknowledges he was lucky and the same for everybody on that side, what more do you want.

        1. Yeah, I read! He said his grid promotion because of RAI’s 5-grid penalty wasn’t beneficial to him! This is what he said: “I think Raikkonen’s gearbox penalty this morning was sort of the opposite of a blessing in disguise.”

    4. The damp side of the track had nothing to do with his start, which was fine even compared to the others on the ‘dry’ side. He had to react to Hamilton which cost him a little. But so did Vettel and Raikkonen. Both of which finished ahead of Ricciardo.
      Ricciardo was beaten fair and square today but to no surprise to me the excuses are now coming in.

      1. Excuses? He was asked about the race and start he was stating facts we all saw on TV.

      2. Baron you remember his pit stop?

    5. Jelle van der Meer (@)
      9th October 2016, 9:20

      Well he qualified 6th, started 4th and after first corner he was 4th so do not see how this affected his race.

      His inability to overtake Perez was his problem and in general not having the pace even in free air.

    6. Guybrush Threepwood
      9th October 2016, 9:35

      It was having to swerve around Hamilton during a critical phase of the start which put him behind Perez and from then on he just couldn’t overtake, similar to Vettel on Hamilton with new softs, or Hamilton on Verstappen – the faster car just can’t pass unless they are a lot quicker.

    7. C’mon Daniel, you’re better than this. Silence is better than excuses.

      1. So he should just be quiet when asked a question? Look how well that turned out for Lewis

    8. Rather funny….

      Hamilton: Damp track didn’t cause poor start
      versus
      Ricciardo rues starting on damp side after Raikkonen penalty

      1. I bet if you showed people those 2 quotes they would swap the drivers around of who said what. Hamilton is labelled the whinger and Dan is the cool guy, people forget that Hamilton holds his hands up when he does something wrong.

        1. You could be right about that, but it seems this is a weekend is all about excuses…..
          Older engines are faster, top speeds are different (1,5 km/h), maybe some drivers are just faster at some given day

      2. Contrary to what was said by some sites, number 44 had bogged-down because of dump grid slot, It was excessive wheel spin which caused number 44 bad start. But then thanks God it wasn’t a bad clutch again, The Colgate kid start was much better than number 44.

    9. After Silverstone RIC also didn’t understand why he was slower then VES.

      Being close behind someone has to do with it, but there is also just a lack of pace.
      Maybe it’s hard to accept for RIC that VES might be faster in the same car. Just like last week (when Daniel won) and several other races. Max is master of grip, racing lines and saving tires.
      Better exit into the strait gives you higher topspeed on the strait. Today he showed again how good he is at that.
      Imagine Max in a Mercedes today.

      I believe Stoffel can be of the same caliber.

        1. “The Red Bull driver reckoned that spoiled his start in the Japanese Grand Prix”. How ’bout letting the man speak for himself. The article then goes on and quotes Ricciardo – “I don’t think my initial launch was that bad, but then having to go around him I sort of crossed the wet patch and lost out to [Sergio] Perez,” said Ricciardo. Don’t quite follow you Keith? Did Ricciardo actually say “I reckon the wet track spoiled my start” word for word? This article does nothing but tarnish the man. We will end up with drivers saying what is politically correct as opposed to how they actually feel. Keep it up Ricciardo. Be real. :-)

      1. The fat lady hasnt sung yet.

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