Daniel Ricciardo said he felt “disgraced” by the stewards’ decision to disqualify him from the results of qualifying in the Singapore Grand Prix.

The Renault driver had to start from the back of the grid after he was thrown out of qualifying. The stewards ruled his MGU-K had exceeded the maximum power delivery during his second-fastest lap in Q2.

He admitted he had “a very restless night’s sleep” after learning about the penalty. “[I was] trying to go through it in my head why a penalty would be so harsh,” said Ricciardo when asked by RaceFans.

“For me, it happened on one occurrence on one lap. If it was happening on the same corner every lap for the whole session I would not complain at all.

“But it’s like track limits you go off, gain an advantage, delete that lap. We didn’t even gain an advantage from this yet they delete the whole session. So I was disgraced by that and voiced my opinion, I’ll keep voicing it.

“They’re doing great things on track, letting us race and all that. But then what’s the point of not giving penalties on track for then giving a massive penalty for something that’s out of my control?”

According to Renault, Ricciardo’s MGU-K delivered excess power following contact with a kerb, and the infringement lasted just 0.000001 seconds. Ricciardo said the team didn’t consider it worth submitting a protest. “They said it was like they were talking to people that didn’t care to listen, so they didn’t think it was worth appealing.”

The decision “literally ruined my weekend” said Ricciardo, who finished the race in 14th.

“I feel like they should pay for my business class ticket back. So anyway it’s a bit of a waste of time coming here now.”

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2019 F1 season