Insult to Injury: Ricciardo 'Pissed Off' at Stroll for Refusing Responsibility in China Crash
Sunday, during the Chinese Grand Prix, Daniel Ricciardo slowed to avoid hitting the chain of cars in front of him created when Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso locked up during the lap-23 safety-car restart. Lance Stroll, Alonso's teammate, did not react in time and rammed into the back of the RB.
“He’s saying my mistake? I had started to calm down, but that pisses me off. I watched his onboard. He’s not even looking at me. We start to brake, and his head is looking at the corner. […] That pisses me off.” pic.twitter.com/n2Vg42KgCe
— meredith (@mereeedithh) April 21, 2024
After the race, Ricciardo was informed that Stroll believed that it was Ricciardo's fault, much to his annoyance.
"He's saying [it was] my mistake?" Ricciardo responded to Sky Sports. "I had started to calm down, but that makes me—that pisses me off. I watched his onboard. He was not even looking at me. We started to break, and his head started looking at the corner; then he started to accelerate or come off the break, and he was right underneath me. That pisses me off."
Stroll was given a 10-second race penalty and two penalty points on his FIA Super License.
To make matters worse, the stewards were still reviewing Ricciardo's pass on Haas's Kevin Magnussen under safety-car conditions. In a postrace hearing, it was decided that Ricciardo would serve a three-position grid penalty at the start of the Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix. If the call were made before Ricciardo retired, it would likely be a 10-second race penalty. Ricciardo was also given two penalty points on his FIA Super License to match Stroll's.
Ricciardo argued that he was taking back a position that Magnussen took in a similar fashion. The stewards did not agree.
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