Ricciardo, team blameless, says Horner

Red Bull principal confident driver will be cleared in appeal.

MELBOURNE: Red Bull boss Christian Horner has said that Daniel Ricciardo was blameless in the bungle that led to his sensational disqualification from the Australian Grand Prix, as the team vowed to fight the ruling.

The 24-year-old crossed the finish line second behind Nico Rosberg’s Mercedes on Sunday, but a technical infringement later cost him his place.

After a marathon hearing, stewards said his car was not in compliance with Formula One regulations after he exceeded the maximum fuel flow, or rate of fuel consumption, of 100kg/h.

Horner and the team said they would appeal against the ruling.

“It is no fault of Daniel,” Horner was quoted as saying by Australian media. “I don’t believe it is the fault of the team.

“I believe we have been compliant to the rules. We would not be appealing unless we were extremely confident that we have a defendable case.”

Cars too quiet: organisers

Australian Grand Prix organisers complained their contract may have been breached with new Formula Ones rules making the cars too quiet, detracting from what fans wanted.

The sport is pushing the boundaries of hybrid technology this year with 2014’s F1 machines running races on 35% less fuel than last season.

But Australian Grand Prix Chairman Ron Walker said the lack of noise was not what the fans expected.

“I was absolutely delighted with the whole weekend, but I was not too happy with the sound,” said Walker.

“We are resolving that with Bernie [Ecclestone]. It’s clearly in breach of our contract. It will be an issue for all promoters all round the world.

“When you take the excitement away, you have trouble selling tickets. You have to create demand and part of that demand is people liking the noise of the race cars.”

Published in The Express Tribune, March 18^th, 2014.

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