Credits: IMAGO / AAP
Daniel Ricciardo was having a fairly decent race in China before a collision with Lance Stroll under the safety car destroyed any hope he had of securing a points finish. Ricciardo was unhappy and didn’t hold back while bashing Stroll after the race. His compatriot Oscar Piastri too, jumped to Ricciardo’s corner and called Stroll out.
Piastri was another victim in the incident involving Stroll and Ricciardo. Stroll hit the back of Ricciardo’s car which led to the Aussie losing control of his and hitting Piastri. The latter, however, didn’t blame Ricciardo. Instead, he feels that the Aston Martin driver was largely at fault. Stroll tried to justify his mistake by stating that the car ahead of him (Ricciardo) braked too hard, but Piastri was having none of it.
“Yes, but everyone else didn’t crash into each other,” said Piastri to Motorsport Total. “You always have to expect it in this type of curve.”
Piastri finished the race in P8 compared to his teammate Lando Norris’ P2 whereas Ricciardo was forced to retire his car. Stroll too, didn’t have a good finish to his race as a 10-second penalty limited him to P16 on the grid. However, Stroll’s teammate Fernando Alonso seemed to be the reason behind Ricciardo “slamming” on the brakes.
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Right before the race restarted and the safety car went in, Alonso locked up going into the hairpin. The cars behind him took evasive actions to avoid overtaking the Spaniard and braked. Russell, Piastri, and Ricciardo slowed down quickly enough to avoid contact but Stroll couldn’t.
How Daniel Ricciardo’s feud with Lance Stroll kicked off
After the Chinese GP, Stroll insisted that he wasn’t at fault and termed the incident as “really stupid”. He emphasized that the car ahead of him braked very hard, which is why there wasn’t anything he could do.
Ricciardo didn’t agree and was furious with the Canadian driver after the race. The latter called him an “idiot” on the team radio, and Ricciardo wasn’t too kind while responding to it after the chequered flag was waved.
“I’m doing my best not to say what I want to say. But f**k that guy. And I’m being nice still,” revealed the man from Land Down Under.
Responding to claims that Stroll blamed him, Ricciardo revealed that the Aston Martin driver was not focused on him, but was eyeing the corner instead. That is why he couldn’t react quickly enough and slow down, which would have avoided the unfortunate shunt.
