'This is unfair': F1 fans left raging over Daniel Ricciardo 'joke'

Daniel Ricciardo has copped a five-second penalty after the Miami Grand Prix to drop from 11th to 13th, capping off a horror weekend for the Aussie star.

Ricciardo started in 14th place at the inaugural Miami GP on Sunday, but managed to get as high as ninth early in the race.

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However he fell back to 17th after a strange decision to pit early, re-entering the track behind a number of cars.

“All McLaren did was drop him back,” Ted Kravitz said in commentary for Sky Sports.

David Croft added: “It’s another race, sadly, for Daniel Ricciardo to forget, I think.”

Although the Aussie star managed to get back up to 11th by the time the race finished, he was then bumped down two places.

Stewards hit Ricciardo with a five-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage, meaning he finished 13th.

It was a horror weekend for Ricciardo in Miami.

He sparked a stewards investigation in the opening practice session on Friday after an incident with Mick Schumacher, before copping an official reprimand for an illegal practice start on Saturday.

The Aussie star is now 11th in the driver's standings with just 11 points from five races.

Fans were left fuming that Ricciardo was hit with a penalty but others escaped sanction for a similar incident.

Max Verstappen wins inaugural Miami Grand Prix

Max Verstappen won the inaugural Miami Grand Prix, holding off a late challenge from Charles Leclerc to close in on the Ferrari driver atop the world championship standings.

Starting third, title-holder Verstappen jumped the other Ferrari of Carlos Sainz at the start and looked set for an easy victory when he passed pole-sitter Leclerc on lap nine of 57 around the 5.412km Miami International Autodrome.

But a late safety car gave Leclerc hope and he attacked over four laps, only to come undone by the unmatched straight line speed of the Red Bull.

Verstappen has now won races this season to Leclerc's two, and with the fastest lap bonus point now trails his rival 104-85 in the standings.

"It was an incredible Grand Prix, very physical, but we kept it exciting until the end," Verstappen said in his podium interview.

"I'm incredibly happy winning in Miami. It was an incredible Sunday for us."

Sainz held on for third in front of Sergio Perez in the other Red Bull, while Mercedes duo George Russell and Lewis Hamilton completed the top six.

The next race is the Spanish Grand Prix on May 22.

Verstappen had little competition at the 77th venue to host a F1 race until Lando Norris' McLaren was taken out by the Alpha Tauri of Pierre Gasly.

His lead of nearly eight seconds was wiped out and Leclerc, within a second to enable to DRS, scented an upset.

He was regularly close coming out corners due to his superior Ferrari downforce but simply lacked the pure speed to defeat Verstappen, who has won every race finished this season.

"It was a very difficult race physically," said Leclerc.

"Towards the end I thought I could get Max at one point, but today they had the advantage in terms of pace."

with agencies

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