It was nice while it lasted. Five hours after Daniel Ricciardo had created history by becoming the first local driver to stand on the podium at home in a world championship Grand Prix, the Red Bull Racing driver was disqualified for a technical infringement that brought a frown to the ever-smiling Australian's face for the first time all week in Melbourne.

Ricciardo handled the pressure of being the sole Australian on the grid at his home Formula One race for the first time in the wake of Mark Webber's retirement with aplomb, qualifying a career-best second in a downpour on Saturday and showing remarkable composure to finish in the same position 24 hours later.

But as the ecstatic Albert Park fans headed into the night and the Formula One travelling roadshow packed its bags for the next round in Malaysia, news emerged that Red Bull was being investigated under article 5.1.4 of the sport's technical regulations for exceeding "consistently the maximum fuel flow of 100kg per hour".

Formula One race director Charlie Whiting said before the Australian Grand Prix that there would be “no tolerance” for teams who exceeded the maximum 100kg of fuel that came into the sport's regulations this year as F1 moved from 2.4-litre V8 engines to 1.6-litre turbos with increased hybrid capabilities, and so it proved. Under the previous regulation, cars were able to start races with 150kg of fuel.