A heartbroken Daniel Ricciardo has claimed there is ‘no excuse’ for the accident that saw him retire from the Chinese Grand Prix.
The back of Ricciardo’s RB car was struck by Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll during the first safety car stint, causing significant damage to the Australian’s rear wing.
Ricciardo, 34, was on track to compete for a points finish, but instead had to retire as a result of the collision.
Stroll blamed Ricciardo for ‘brake checking’ him in the immediate aftermath of the incident, but the Australian is adamant that he was not at fault for what occurred in Shanghai.
Speaking to reporters after the race, Ricciardo hit out at his Canadian rival.
+3
View gallery
Daniel Ricciardo has hit out at Formula One rival Lance Stroll
+3
View gallery
Ricciardo’s Chinese Grand Prix was ruined when Stroll went into the back of him
‘It’s a restart you know we don’t know what the leader is going to do, so you have to be as vigilant as ever and be prepared for any situation,’ he said.
‘I could see it was bunching up into the hairpin so obviously everyone is backing up, but then how hard he has hit me and basically put half his car under mine, it wasn’t small like a judgement error, he was miles off.
‘For that for me there’s obviously no excuse. I think for me what’s frustrating is I watched his onboard and he’s not even looking at me.
‘You can see his helmet and he’s looking at the apex of the corner so I don’t know why he’s not looking at the car in front … unless his eyes are doing something funny.
‘But it looked like he wasn’t looking at me and I think it shows with how hard he hit me that he was clearly focused on something else.’
After learning that Stroll had in fact blamed Ricciardo for the incident, the Australian vented his fury.
+3
View gallery
The Australian said there was ‘no excuse’ for the collision in Shanghai
“I’d slowly started to calm down and then I was told what Lance thinks of the incident,” Ricciardo said.
“And apparently I’m an idiot. And it was my fault.
“So, 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 is going to do. We can’t assume that we’re going to go in Turn 14. 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 still.
“But if that’s what he thinks, I’m like… yeah.”
