F1 | Ricciardo: “Irresponsible troll, it makes my blood boil”

It is not a Chinese GP to remember that of Racing Bulls, which concluded Sunday's race with a double zero which hurts, not only for the damage reported to both cars, but also because Haas managed to take advantage of it by gaining a point important for the ranking.

Yuki Tsunoda's race was interrupted due to contact with Kevin Magnussen in turn five after the first restart, while Daniel Ricciardo's retirement was more daring. During the Safety Car period, when the drivers were about to restart the race, a block by Fernando Alonso to avoid Carlos Sainz triggered a knock-on effect.

All the drivers behind the Aston Martin Spaniard were forced to brake to avoid collisions, but Lance Stroll was unable to avoid Daniel Ricciardo, slipping under the Australian's car, which clearly suffered damage to the diffuser and bottom. Although he tried to stay on track, the problems reported with the car were too extensive and serious to consider continuing, which is why Racing Bulls then decided to withdraw the car. Furthermore, as if it were raining wet, Ricciardo was penalized three places for the next race in Miami for overtaking Nico Hulkenberg in a Safety Car period.

Stroll initially blamed the driver who caused the ripple effect, which unbeknownst to him was Alonso. However, the Federation commissioners decided to penalize the Canadian for the contact with a ten-second fine, which he then served during another stop: furthermore, the Aston Martin driver was also given two points on his licence, bringing the total to seven in the last twelve months.

Speaking after the race, Ricciardo did not hide his disappointment, also because it was the first opportunity to score this year, especially on a weekend where he performed well. The chassis change almost seems to have given him a boost of confidence, although in reality this is one of the tracks on which he has often shown good indications in the past. However, what really annoyed him was Stroll's attitude, guilty of having been irresponsible in the dynamics of the accident.

In fact, watching the replays you can see how the Canadian was looking in another area of ​​the track, paying little attention to what was happening in front. A fraction of a second which however was decisive, because at that moment the group compacted and the Aston Martin driver was unable to avoid Ricciardo.

“Maybe in an hour, when he realizes it, he will be able to take responsibility. But if he doesn't, I won't be able to help him, nor anyone here. It's so frustrating. Obviously race accidents happen, but behind a Safety Car you don't should never happen,” explained the Australian after the race.

Daniel Ricciardo, RB F1 Team VCARB 01, Nico Hulkenberg, Haas VF-24, Lance Stroll, Aston Martin AMR24, Esteban Ocon, Alpine A524

Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

“What made my blood boil was that I looked at his onboard, to see the situation from his perspective. As soon as we started braking, you can see his helmet turn right and look at the apex of turn 14 [il tornantino], without even looking at me. And then, when she looks forward again, she hits me. I don't know what he was doing, where his mind is, but all he has to do is worry about me in that situation, and he clearly wasn't doing that. Let's see what he will say in interviews, but if he comes looking for me, then I will say more…”.

This, however, was only the first part of the story because, after Ricciardo listened to the Canadian's teams radio, in which he tried to blame another driver for the contact by underlining how someone else had suddenly braked in front of him , the Racing Bulls representative did not spare any venom.

“I had started to slowly calm down, and then I was told what Lance thinks about the accident. Apparently, I'm an idiot and it's my fault. This made my blood boil, because it's clear as day what happened and he's also behind a Safety Car. The only thing to do is watch the car in front. We can't predict what the leader will do and what pace he will dictate.”

“I'm trying my best not to say what I want to say, but screw that guy. And I'm nice too! But if that's what he thinks…”

Daniel Ricciardo

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

“I want him to understand that once the dust settles, he will have to learn from this episode. We've all made mistakes, I've done it, we've all done it. If he understands that it was he who ruined not only his race, but also mine, that is the most important thing.”

However, after the race Stroll later clarified that his team radio, in which he called another driver an idiot, was not aimed specifically at Ricciardo, but at whoever generated the knock-on effect, which then spread revealed to be Alonso.

“I don't think it was him. Everyone braked and he was the one in front of me. So I don't think he braked, it was a chain effect. The car in front of me slowed down from 60 to 0 km/h, it was a very banal accident,” explained Stroll.

“I received a penalty because I hit Ricardo, but it's not like everything was normal and I crashed into him. There was a really strange ripple effect that I wish the commissioners would have taken into consideration a little more. I had no warning, at first we were slowing down but then they all suddenly stopped.”

Lance Stroll, Aston Martin AMR24, makes a pit stop

Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

“If someone hadn't braked in front, there wouldn't have been any knock-on effect, there wouldn't have been any problems. I really think it was one of those stupid accidents.”

In their verdict, the commissioners took the episode into account, but also underlined the responsibilities of the Canadian, who should have been ready to emergency brake to avoid hitting Ricciardo, also because the impact was quite considerable.

We have established that car 18 [Stroll] it would have had to predict the pace of the cars in front of it, in particular car 3 [Riccardo], and should have prepared to brake accordingly” – we read in the commissioners' statement -. “If he had done that, he would have avoided the collision. Therefore, car 18 was predominantly responsible for the collision which ultimately led to car 3 retiring from the race.”