Several places behind the Spaniard, his teammate Stroll crashed into the back of RB’s Ricciardo, lifting the Australian’s car and causing damage that would ultimately prove fatal to both cars.
Stroll initially blamed the driver behind the accordion 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 penalty. He also received two penalty points, taking his total to seven in the last 12 months.
Ricciardo, who saw any chance of scoring the first points in 2024 evaporate, was furious at Stroll’s lack of responsibility for the incident after watching replays, which he said showed Stroll was not paying attention to him .
“Maybe in an hour, when he sees it, he will be able to take responsibility. But if he doesn’t, I can’t help him or anyone here,” Ricciardo said.
“It’s so frustrating. Obviously racing incidents happen, but behind a safety car it should never happen.”
“What made my blood boil was watching him on board, just to see it from his point of view.
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 looking at me. And then when he looks back, he’s behind me.”
“I don’t know what he’s doing, where his head is, but all he has to do is worry about me in this situation, and that clearly wasn’t the case. Let’s see what what he says in the media, but if he comes after me, then I will say more…”
Ricciardo was even more furious when presented with Stroll’s radio comments, which suggested he blamed the incident on the Australian.
“I had slowly started to calm down, and then I was told what Lance thought about the incident. Apparently I’m an idiot, and it was my fault. It made my blood boil, because that it’s clear as day and it’s also behind a safety car.
“The only thing you have to do is watch the car in front of you. We can’t predict what the leader is going to do. The race only starts at the control line.
“I’m trying my best not to say what I want to say, but fuck this guy. And I’m nice too! But if that’s what he thinks…”
But Stroll later clarified that his “idiotic” comments were not aimed specifically at Ricciardo.
“I don’t think it was him,” Stroll said. “Everyone just hit the brakes and he was the one in front of me. So I don’t think he braked suddenly, 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 when I hit Ricciardo, but it’s not like everything was normal and I just hit him in the back.
“There was a really strange concertina effect that I would have liked to see the stewards take into consideration maybe a little more.”
The Stewards’ verdict was: “We determined that Car 18 should have anticipated the pace of the cars ahead of it, particularly Car 3, and should have prepared to brake accordingly.
“If he had done that, he would have avoided the collision. So car 18 was primarily responsible for the collision that ultimately led to car 3 abandoning the race.”
Several places behind the Spaniard, his teammate Stroll crashed into the back of RB’s Ricciardo, lifting the Australian’s car and causing damage that would ultimately prove fatal to both cars.
Stroll initially blamed the driver behind the accordion 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 penalty. He also received two penalty points, taking his total to seven in the last 12 months.
Ricciardo, who saw any chance of scoring the first points in 2024 evaporate, was furious at Stroll’s lack of responsibility for the incident after watching replays, which he said showed Stroll was not paying attention to him .
“Maybe in an hour, when he sees it, he will be able to take responsibility. But if he doesn’t, I can’t help him or anyone here,” Ricciardo said.
“It’s so frustrating. Obviously racing incidents happen, but behind a safety car it should never happen.”
“What made my blood boil was watching him on board, just to see it from his point of view.
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 looking at me. And then when he looks back, he’s behind me.”
“I don’t know what he’s doing, where his head is, but all he has to do is worry about me in this situation, and that clearly wasn’t the case. Let’s see what what he says in the media, but if he comes after me, then I will say more…”
Ricciardo was even more furious when presented with Stroll’s radio comments, which suggested he blamed the incident on the Australian.
“I had slowly started to calm down, and then I was told what Lance thought about the incident. Apparently I’m an idiot, and it was my fault. It made my blood boil, because that it’s clear as day and it’s also behind a safety car.
“The only thing you have to do is watch the car in front of you. We can’t predict what the leader is going to do. The race only starts at the control line.
“I’m trying my best not to say what I want to say, but fuck this guy. And I’m nice too! But if that’s what he thinks…”
But Stroll later clarified that his “idiotic” comments were not aimed specifically at Ricciardo.
“I don’t think it was him,” Stroll said. “Everyone just hit the brakes and he was the one in front of me. So I don’t think he braked suddenly, 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 when I hit Ricciardo, but it’s not like everything was normal and I just hit him in the back.
“There was a really strange concertina effect that I would have liked to see the stewards take into consideration maybe a little more.”
The Stewards’ verdict was: “We determined that Car 18 should have anticipated the pace of the cars ahead of it, particularly Car 3, and should have prepared to brake accordingly.
“If he had done that, he would have avoided the collision. So car 18 was primarily responsible for the collision that ultimately led to car 3 abandoning the race.”