Daniel Ricciardo was slapped by stewards and hit back post-race

Daniel Ricciardo had a message for his critics and snubbed a rival during a hilarious interview that threatened to go off the rails more than once.

Romain Grosjean won’t have been too pleased to hear Daniel Ricciardo’s response after accusing him of unfair tactics at the French Grand Prix overnight as the Aussie also hit out at anyone questioning his late-race attack.

Ricciardo dropped from seventh to 11th after receiving two five-second penalties for an unsafe re-entry onto the track and gaining an unfair advantage by going off the tarmac. Stewards deemed the Renault star forced Lando Norris off with a dangerous return and also overtook Kimi Raikkonen on the last lap after all four of his wheels had left the track.

Ricciardo hit out on Twitter after his punishment was handed down and even before he knew what the consequences would be he wasn’t taking a backwards step.

In a comical interview for Dutch TV after the race, the West Australian had some choice words for anyone who thought his race-ending antics went too far.

Ricciardo being chased by Pierre Gasly.

In a race many fans said was boring — thanks to Mercedes’ latest one-two finish with Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas — Ricciardo wasn’t about to say sorry for providing a little bit of spark.

“F*** em all, how does that sound?” Ricciardo said of any critics before putting his serious hat on.

“All jokes aside, every time I’m breaking late and deep, trying to make a move, I am struggling to pull the car up.

“It is better than the start of the year but I’m still not quite there to what I was with the Red Bull.

“The thing is, if I don’t try, then I’m sitting behind the whole race so I have to try but when I do try for sure it’s sometimes a bit on the limit.

“I’m obviously trying to keep it on track and not be dirty. I’ll try to remember the Grosjean thing, but if I did (impede him), then sorry.

“But I’d rather try than sit behind and be a loser the whole race.”

Ricciardo wasn’t happy with stewards post-race.

Earlier in the race, Grosjean took aim at his rival when he thought Ricciardo went too far by unfairly finding his way back onto the tarmac as the pair jostled for a better position.

“He rejoined the track very dangerously and I had to go round the outside,” Grosjean complained over the radio as Ricciardo sped past him.

Ricciardo clearly didn’t think there was anything untoward in his aggressive driving because he didn’t even remember the incident — or the fact he was alongside Grosjean at all during the race.

Asked about Grosjean’s complaint, Ricciardo was miffed. “Grosjean?” he said with a look of pure confusion on his face. “What the f*** was I doing?

“I didn’t even know I was racing Grosjean.

“All right, cool, no worries. Excusez-moi.”

Warning: Language

Daniel Ricciardo forgetting he was even racing Grosjean (while swearing) on Dutch TV is genuinely incredible

How can you not love this man pic.twitter.com/cXhB3JV1kV

— iGP Manager (@iGPManager) June 23, 2019

As a result of Ricciardo’s penalty, Raikkonen gained a place to seventh, the other Renault of Nico Hulkenberg took eighth and Norris moved into ninth.

WHAT HAPPENED ON THE LAST LAP?

A largely soporific French GP was enlivened in the closing stages as Ricciardo, Raikkonen and Hulkenberg quickly closed on McLaren’s Norris, whose car had developed a hydraulics fault.

On the final lap, Ricciardo made a move down the outside of Norris into the Turn Eight chicane but outbraked himself, going over the run-off area before rejoining the track to complete the move, with Norris then going off circuit.

Raikkonen then passed both drivers exiting the chicane, but Ricciardo soon repassed the Alfa Romeo down the following straight — but with all four wheels off the circuit.

“I care, but I don’t care. I’m glad that I had a crack,” said Ricciardo. “I was certainly trying to pull it up and keep it all on there. It was tight.

“I’m getting more comfortable in the car in racing situations, but still not quite where I was with the Red Bull. So when I do brake on the limit I feel I’m always on the limit of pulling the car up. But it was fun and it all got pretty exciting.”

“Personally I expect come kind of penalty to come from this,” SkySports’ Anthony Davidson said.

“I have to follow what Anthony said — you have to respect the white lines, especially on the straight. Daniel just decided to run off the track and pass — that’s not allowed. So I guess he needs to get some sort of penalty,” Sky F1’s Nico Rosberg added.

Ricciardo wasn’t happy after the race.

WHAT DID THE STEWARDS SAY?

After speaking to Ricciardo, Norris and Raikkonen after the race to hear their respective sides of the story, plus reviewing video evidence, Paul Ricard stewards ruled against the Renault driver in their verdict on Sunday evening.

Regarding the initial incident with Norris, the stewards explained:

‘Ricciardo started to pass Norris on the outside at turn 8. At the exit of the corner he distinctly left the track and the Stewards determined that he re-joined at an angle that forced Norris off the track to avoid the collision.

‘The Stewards accepted Ricciardo’s explanation that when he was re-joining the track, he had slowed considerably, going down extra gears and locking up the front left tyre. He also stated that the rumble strips in the turn made the car more difficult to control. However, the Stewards considered that the sequence of events constituted re-joining the track unsafely, and he subsequently took the position from Norris.’

For that, Ricciardo was handed a first five-second time penalty and had two penalty points added to his licence.

When examining the subsequent move on Raikkonen, the judging panel decided Ricciardo had indeed passed Raikkonen by running off the circuit.

‘Raikkonen defended his position on the straight moving slightly to the right. However, Raikkonen never put any part of his car off the track and he did not make any move to the right while any part of Ricciardo’s car was alongside, and did not crowd Ricciardo off the track.

‘To make the pass Ricciardo drove off track and then subsequently completed the pass, gaining a lasting advantage. The Stewards reviewed the case to see if it was a continuation of the previous incident. However, Ricciardo clearly had regained control of the car following his incident with Norris and the pass off track was a separate incident.’

Stewards imposed another five-second penalty for this and added a further penalty point, taking Ricciardo up to five for the last 12 months.