Daniel Ricciardo was an understandably frustrated figure after the Chinese GP. The Australian was putting together his best weekend in 2024 for RB, showing good performance in the VCARB 01. Whilst his chances of points were far from simple, Ricciardo was certainly in the mix. However, after Lance Stroll ran into the back of his car, damage forced him to retire.
The stewards made the decision to award Stroll a 10-second time penalty for ploughing into the back of Ricciardo. In addition, two penalty points were added to Stroll’s license.
Still, this will be of little consolation to Ricciardo – especially since the FIA has awarded him a 3-place grid penalty for overtaking Hulkenberg under the Safety Car. This penalty will be applied at the next race. Overall, this incident cost him dearly.
On the other side of the incident, Lance Stroll wasn’t in a brilliant mood either. The Canadian attributed the incident to a mistake in judgement from Ricciardo. Evidently, this is not an opinion that the 8-time race winner shared.
RICCIARDO FUMING AFTER STROLL INCIDENT
When informed of Stroll’s comments post-race by Canal+, Ricciardo made his thoughts clear:
“He’s saying my mistake? I had started to calm down, but now that makes me… that pisses me off,” he said post-race.
“I watched his onboard. He’s not even looking at me. We start to brake, and his head starts looking at the corner.
“Then he starts to accelerate or come off the brake, and he’s right underneath me, so… That pisses me off.”
These weren’t Ricciardo’s only colourful post-race comments, as motorsport.com quotes him as saying the following:
“I’m doing my best not to say what I want to say, but f**k that guy. And I’m being nice, too.”
Generally speaking, this incident has only increased the scrutiny on Lance Stroll. Over the last twelve months, the Aston Martin driver has failed to even come close to matching teammate Fernando Alonso.
This was reflected once again in China, with only the Spaniard taking home points for the Silverstone-based team. If there weren’t already question marks surrounding Stroll, there will be even more in the coming weeks – especially after Mike Krack’s comments that he intends to extend the 25-year-old’s contract.
For Daniel Ricciardo, meanwhile, there are still positives to take from this weekend. His pace was, overall, very positive – even if no points came from it.
