Daniel Ricciardo’s qualifying stripped by F1 stewards

Aussie ace Daniel Ricciardo has endured a tough season since joining Renault and on Saturday night he suffered a major setback.

Nick Kyrgios was disqualified from qualifying by F1 stewards.

Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo has been disqualified from Singapore GP qualifying for a technical infringement.

Ricciardo had qualified eighth but will now start from the back of the field in Sunday’s race, which begins at 10:05pm (AEST).

Teammate Nico Hulkenberg takes over eighth and McLaren’s Lando Norris moves into ninth, while Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi gains the final top-10 starting slot.

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Ricciardo’s Renault car was found to have contravened the regulation governing how much power can be emitted by the MGU-K element of the engine. The RS19 was found to have exceeded 120kW during Q1.

Renault F1 Team acknowledges the decision from the FIA Stewards to disqualify Daniel Ricciardo from the qualifying session of the Singapore Grand Prix [1/2]

— Renault F1 Team (@RenaultF1Team) September 21, 2019

The issue was referred to the stewards by FIA technical delegate Jo Bauer after qualifying and, after speaking to Renault representatives into the early hours of Sunday morning at F1’s night race, stewards announced just before 3am local time that they had determined a breach had taken place “beyond any doubt”.

HOW RENAULT FELL FOUL OF F1’S RULES

Although Renault argued that Ricciardo’s car had barely gone over the 120kW limit on what proved to be the Australian’s second-fastest lap of Q1, stewards said that was not a sufficient defence against the regulations.

READ: Ricciardo’s savage ‘rookie’ slam

“The team’s defence rested on two points. First, that the excess was very small and offered no measurable benefit. Second, that the excess occurred during the second fastest lap during Q1,” read the stewards’ verdict.

“The team explained to the Stewards how they believe the excess occurred, however the Stewards consider this information to be confidential to the team, and not relevant to this decision.

Ricciardo was disqualified after a technical infringement.

“Notwithstanding the team’s arguments, the Stewards take note of the very clear wording of Article 1.2.2 ISC, which states that ‘if an Automobile is found not to comply with the applicable technical regulations, it shall be no defence to claim that no performance advantage was obtained’.

“In coming to this decision the Stewards referred to longstanding precedents regarding technical infringements and the penalty which has been consistently applied is disqualification, and which does not consider when or if an advantage was gained.”

Stewards have granted Ricciardo permission to start the race from 20th and last place.

The Australian’s demotion is a blow to Renault’s hopes in their battle this weekend with McLaren, their rivals for fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship. Renault’s drivers had split Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris on the grid, but Ricciardo now has his work cut out to score points on one of the hardest circuits on which to overtake.

PROVISIONAL SINGAPORE GP GRID

1. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

2. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes

3. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari

4. Max Verstappen, Red Bull

5. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes

6. Alex Albon, Red Bull

7. Carlos Sainz, McLaren

8. Nico Hulkenberg, Renault

9. Lando Norris, McLaren

10. Antonio Giovinazzi, Alfa Romeo

11. Pierre Gasly, Toro Rosso

12. Kimi Raikkonen, Alfa Romeo

13. Kevin Magnussen, Haas

14. Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso

15. Sergio Perez, Racing Point*

16. Lance Stroll, Racing Point

17. Romain Grosjean, Haas

18. George Russell, Williams

19. Robert Kubica, Williams

20. Daniel Ricciardo, Renault**

This article originally appeared on Sky Sports and was reproduced with permission.