Ricciardo: Stroll "making my blood boil" after China F1 contact

Daniel Ricciardo says Lance Stroll's refusal to take blame for their collision in Formula 1's Chinese Grand Prix is "making my blood boil".

As the field got ready to restart the race on lap 27, a lock-up from Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso into the hairpin caused a concertina effect for cars having to brake behind him.

Several places behind the Spaniard, his team-mate Stroll crashed into the back of RB's Ricciardo, lifting the Australian's car up and causing damage that would end up terminal for both cars.

Stroll initially blamed the driver who caused the concertina for jumping on the brakes, which unbeknownst to him turned out to be Alonso.

However, the FIA stewards had a different opinion and handed the Canadian a 10-second time penalty. He also received two penalty points, bringing his total up to seven for the past 12 months.

Ricciardo, who saw a chance of a first points finish of 2024 evaporate, was furious by Stroll's lack of responsibility for the incident after watching the replays, which he said showed Stroll not paying attention to him.

"Maybe in an hour, when he sees it, he might take some accountability. But if he doesn't, I can't help him, nor can anyone here," Ricciardo said.

"It's so frustrating. Obviously, racing incidents happen, but behind a safety car, that should never happen.

"What made my blood boil is I watched his onboard, to just see it from his perspective.

Daniel Ricciardo, RB F1 Team VCARB 01

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

"And as soon as we start braking, you can see his helmet turn right and he's looking at the apex of Turn 14, he's not even watching me. And then when he looks back, he's in the back of me.

"I don't know what he's doing, where his head is, but all he has to do is worry about me in that situation, and he clearly wasn't. Let's see what he says in the media, but if he comes after me, then I'll say more..."

Ricciardo was even more enraged when presented with Stroll's radio comments, which suggested he blamed the Australian for the incident.

"I'd slowly started to calm down, and then I was told what Lance thinks of the incident. Apparently, I'm an idiot, and it was my fault. That made my blood boil, because it's clear as day and it's also behind a safety car.

"The only thing you've got to do is watch the car in front. We can't predict what the leader's gonna do. The race doesn't start until the control line.

"I'm doing my best not to say what I want to say, but f*** that guy. And I'm being nice, too! But if that's what he thinks..."

But Stroll clarified afterwards that his "idiot" comments were not aimed at Ricciardo specifically.

"I don't think it was him," Stroll said. "Everyone just slammed on the brakes and he was the guy in front of me. So I don't think he slammed on the brakes, It was a concertina effect.

Lance Stroll, Aston Martin F1 Team

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

"I got a penalty because of the end result that I hit Ricciardo, but it's not like everything was normal and I just slammed into the back of him.

"There was a really odd concertina effect that I would have liked to see the stewards take into consideration maybe a little bit more."

The stewards' verdict read: "We determined that Car 18 ought to have anticipated the pace of the cars in front, particularly Car 3 and should have prepared to brake accordingly.

"Had it done that, it would have avoided the collision. Hence Car 18 was predominantly to blame for the collision that ultimately led to Car 3 having to retire from the race."

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Ricciardo: Stroll "making my blood boil" after China F1 contact

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Ricciardo: Stroll "making my blood boil" after China F1 contact

Daniel Ricciardo says Lance Stroll's refusal to take blame for their collision in Formula 1's Chinese Grand Prix is "making my blood boil".

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