‘We want to race’: Daniel Ricciardo asks for more flexibility in race start times following a rain-curtailed Japanese GP
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Daniel Ricciardo (IMAGO / Action Plus)
At the scheduled start time of the Japanese GP last weekend, the rain had been heavy and the visibly had been low. Despite that, the race went ahead as planned. Perhaps it came from fan pressure – there were questions about why the wets tyre were there if they were not even being used. But as it turned out, the race was red-flagged just after two laps after numerous incidents.
It was a lose-lose situation – the FIA would be criticized into the ground by fans if the race was delayed again (as it had been in Singapore just before) but starting as scheduled turned out to be not fruitful at all. The race was then restarted 2 hours later and could not run the full distance. It ran for about 28 laps. Daniel Ricciardo made a suggestion to improve how the races operate in case of a delay: He asked for more flexibility in the race start times, which would eliminate the time limit.
When asked by Motorsport.com about the rain delays, he said: “We want to race. Where I wish we could do better is… I know it’s easy saying it now, but we knew this rain was going to come. It’s like 2014. Even if you bring it forward an hour, maybe we gain 20 laps at the beginning and you can still make a race of it.”
Daniel Ricciardo did not think the Japanese GP would restart
But there are many other factors to consider, such as the schedule of the broadcasts on TV. For most TV channels, Formula 1 is not the only significant sporting event they will be broadcasting on a given day. If the broadcast is moved forward, it will jeopardise the schedule. Daniel Ricciardo acknowledged that, but: “I know there’s TV and everything, there’s a big part of it. Ultimately, we want to have a race.”
It wasn’t just Suzuka that has been delayed due to rain this year: Monaco and Singapore earlier this year were delayed by about an hour due to rainy conditions. In Suzuka, there were only about 40 minutes of running following the restart. There were numerous incidents on the first start, including Carlos Sainz’s ‘aquaplaning‘ moment, which directly led to Pierre Gasly’s own moment with a tractor crane.
Speaking of the original race start, the McLaren driver said: “Part of me was scared, part of me enjoyed it. It was nice to gain a few spots. As soon as we got into Turn 1, I was like ‘ah wow, there’s too much water’. The visibility was so bad. I feel like the onboard cameras did it justice. But then I was happy to get the race going again. I didn’t think it would.”
Lando Norris and Ricciardo finished P10 and P11 at the Japanese Grand Prix, which meant that Alpine (who took home 18 points) once again took the lead in the battle for fourth place. Daniel Ricciardo will really need to step it up (he is currently 79 points behind Norris) if McLaren want to finish ahead of the French team, but they are also fighting with an inferior package.
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Aniket Tripathi
(1002 Articles Published)