Daniel Ricciardo will start from the back of the grid in Germany as Red Bull changed three power unit parts on his car for FP 1 today.
A new MGU-K for the Ricciardo meant a 10 place penalty. He also needed a third energy store and a third control electronics which led to a further 10 place penalty, meaning the Australian will now have to start from back of the grid at Hockenheim on Sunday.
Now, Ricciardo is also scheduled for a V6, MGU-H or turbo change, and it seems like Red Bull will change all of that for this race, as it won’t result to any further loss for Ricciardo and the team.
However, Christian Horner is presently keeping mum about the entire situation and has told the the media that a decision would be taken later the day.
“We’ll see after this session,” Christian Horner said, as quoted by Motorsport.com
“I don’t know whether the combustion unit will be new, but he’s due some other components.
“We’ll know a bit more later in the day.” he added.
FIA confirms Ricciardo power unit changes. A new MGU-K, energy store and control electronics, meaning he’ll start from the back of the grid #F1 #GermanGP
— Luke Smith (@LukeSmithF1) July 20, 2018
Ricciardo managed to edge Hamilton out in FP 1 today, as he ended the session on top by just 4 thousandths of a second.
The Australian however, will have to race out of his skin on Sunday, when he attempts to march upfield and get a good result. Incidentally, all of Ricciardo’s grand prix wins have come from him trying to get up from way down the field.
However, this seems like a tall order on Sunday, even for Ricciardo.
The Ferrari drivers were pretty coy during the session, as both Kimi and Seb raced on the soft tyre.
An exciting weekend awaits us.
