What's Red Bull up to? Thoughts on Daniel Ricciardo's disqualification

Some years ago I bought a copy of one of those make yourself more effective-type self-help books in a bargain book shop (yes, a self-help book. Don't judge me). It was structured as a series of 'rules' which were to be adhered to in order to make success in work and life more likely. And in the author's view the most important rule therein, the one that gave the book its title indeed, was 'You can't win a fight with your boss'.

In other words, no matter your sense of injustice, no matter how convinced you are of the merits of your case, from getting into conflict with certain people - people in authority - you just will never win. So don't try. However bitter the taste, it's best for you to suck it up.

Christian Horner - at the centre of controversy
Photo: Octane Photography

And this applies just as much in the strange world of F1, and to the teams whose bosses are in effect the dual monarchy of the FIA and Bernie Ecclestone. Both must be treated with caution, and you must not challenge either of them (at the very least without the backing of the other). If you do it won't end well. Unfair? Of course. But these are the house rules, they set them and no one made you live here.

But on this basis in the Australian Grand Prix the sport's champion constructor chose not to comply with this possibly fundamental, if unwritten, 'rule'.

After a race that seemed a reasonably positive dawn of the new era, not long after a matter of the depressingly time-honoured sort emerged. Second-placed Daniel Ricciardo was under threat of disqualification, for his car 'consistently' exceeding the 100kg per hour fuel flow limit, a new rule for this year (note the flow is controlled by the team, not the driver, so Ricciardo personally is an innocent party in this). And some five hours and plenty of arguing later the exclusion was confirmed. But from the stewards' subsequent statement what we knew was barely the start of the matter. Having noted that the sensor to measure fuel flow on the Red Bull had problems earlier in the weekend, as well as that it can request a back up system if not satisfied with its readings, it said:

'The FIA technical representative observed thought the telemetry during the race that the fuel flow was too high and contacted the team, giving them the opportunity to follow his previous instruction, and reduce the fuel flow such that it was within the limit, as measured by the homologated sensor - and thus gave the team the opportunity to be within compliance. The team chose not to make this correction.'

In other words, Red Bull was told by the FIA to reduce its fuel flow during the Australian Grand Prix. Red Bull said no.

And Red Bull's Christian Horner doesn't dispute much of this, instead stating that the team felt the sensor was a dud and was taking its own readings, and that it was running within the flow limit. And it also felt that had it complied with the FIA's instructions it would have reduced the car's power unnecessarily. The team has appealed the disqualification, which it's thought will be heard in about a month's time. This one has legs.

Daniel Ricciardo may have lost his usual smile after
the disqualification
Photo: Octane Photography

Horner certainly gives the impression of being convinced of his case. Teams and not just his have had problems with the sensors, and before this weekend too, he says; some may have run in Melbourne without them he claims; others might have failed. He may even be right: but given the considerations of the start of this article even if he does have a point it may hardly matter. As Steve Matchett noted: 'If the FIA did indeed inform RBR to adjust their flow, so as to keep the car legit (to the FIA's meter) and they simply chose not to do that then I expect the FIA will be unwilling to cut them a break. The FIA's meter might be out of calibration but that's the one that matters.'

Historical precedents for defying F1's equivalent of the referee are rare, but there is one in particular that sprung to my mind (and one that Matchett will be familiar with): Benetton; Silverstone; 1994; black flags; ignoring them. Then Benetton ignored the stewards' instructions in a race and the FIA gave it both barrels: in addition to the disqualification from that race a two race ban for Michael Schumacher and a $500,000 fine for the team. Just like then, there was an argument that the team on some level had a point: the five-second stop-go penalty (which was ignored, leading to the black flag that was also ignored) was according to the team communicated merely as a time penalty they thought was to be added at the end with no stop-go mentioned, plus the team wasn't notified within the required 15 minutes of the offence as well as that the penalty wasn't displayed on the TV feed as is standard. But such a defence counted for little apparently (some however thought that Max Mosley had other motives for pulling Benetton's pants down, but that's another story).

Of course, the world's changed in the last twenty years, and that includes F1. And as we discovered last year with 'testgate' the new justice system is further steps removed from the FIA compared with the previous judge, jury and jailer, and not unwilling to go against the its will. Perhaps Horner is calculating similar will happen here. But it seems one heck of a gamble.

Given this perhaps Red Bull's behaviour generously can be described as cavalier. Perhaps given everything it would have been better to swallow whatever point of principle considerations it had; comply however grudgingly. After all, at the very worst Ricciardo would have lost a handful of points from the reduced power presumably - hardly on the face of it worth the predicament the team's now found itself in. You'd think that the team's instinct for self-preservation would have kicked in at some point; that it didn't apparently doesn't reflect too well on its collective wisdom. Perhaps at the very most and if it made all at the team feel better Horner could have kept the resultant wrath carefully nursed - to be deployed later in some political wrangle or other involving the authorities.

But Red Bull didn't chose this; it chose something else. Strap yourself in for this one.