Whiting: Red Bull has itself to blame

Charlie Whiting has no doubts about the decision torule out Daniel Ricciardo from Australian Grand Prix taken by the commissioners. The Australian celebrated his first podium at home before being summoned for an infraction of the technical regulations limiting fuel consumption to 100kg per hour. If Red Bull Racing points finger at FIA flow meter failures, the stable of Milton Keynes put herself in this situation by refusing to follow the instructions of the Federation requesting intervention on the car.

The FIA ​​race director therefore fully supports the stewards' decision and does not appear to fear Red Bull Racing's appeal. “We warned them twice after qualifying and after five laps in the race to make sure they respected the regulations”, he explained in The Times. “They chose to take their own actions to show that they respected him. If they had followed the advice we gave them, we wouldn't have had this problem and they wouldn't have been penalized. If their flow meter was broken, things would have been different. But to err is human because they had the possibility of being compliant. »

Discover the analysis of the Australian Grand Prix carried out by our special correspondents in issue 1952 of AUTOhebdo, available now in digital version on all platforms, and from tomorrow on newsstands.