Ricciardo given three-place grid penalty

Melbourne, March 23: Daniel Ricciardo has been given a three-place grid penalty at the Australian Grand Prix after a red flag infringement in practice on Friday.

During FP2 in Melbourne, the Red Bull driver was adjudged to have failed to "stay above the minimum time set by the FIA ECU [Electronic Control Unit]" in the final two sectors.

Ricciardo "admitted an error in reading his dash", according to a statement released by race stewards, which went on to say that the Australian was found to have "slowed significantly".

In light of that, the officials "imposed a lesser penalty than usual", which included two penalty points.

Friday's developments are the latest in a series of hard-luck stories for Ricciardo at his home GP, after he finished second in 2014 but was then disqualified for a mechanical issue.

Last year, Ricciardo crashed in qualifying and was forced to retire midway through the race.

Source: OPTA