Lance Stroll’s opposing take on “stupid incident” with Daniel Ricciardo
Lance Stroll has offered his take on his collision with Daniel Ricciardo at the Chinese Grand Prix.
Lance Stroll has labelled his collision with Daniel Ricciardo in the F1 Chinese Grand Prix as a “stupid incident” and “very unlucky”.
Stroll rear-ended Ricciardo as the field bunched up at the hairpin just before a Safety Car restart, a collision which sent the RB driver airborne.
The contact caused significant damage to Ricciardo’s car and ultimately forced the Australian to retire.
Stroll continued and finished 15th but was handed a 10-second time penalty for causing the collision.
While a furious Ricciardo was absolutely convinced Stroll was at fault, the Canadian blamed a “really odd concertina effect”.
“Someone braked at the front of the pack, I don’t know who. And then everyone stops. The car in front of me just stopped from like 60 to zero, so a really stupid incident. It was one of those,” Stroll explained.
“I think [the penalty] is just because of the fact that I hit the guy. But someone hit the brakes and caused the concertina. I don’t know who.
"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. And there was a really odd concertina effect that I would have liked to see the stewards take into consideration maybe a little bit more.
“We’re going 60 and then started to slow a little bit for it. And then zero all of a sudden. It’s just a little bit wrong place too, I was in his gearbox kind of thing and ready for the restart, and just very unlucky. We were having a good race so then so it’s a shame.
“If someone didn’t hit the brakes in front, there wouldn’t have been any concertina effect, there wouldn’t have been any issues. I really think it was one of those stupid incidents.”
Stroll was heard calling Ricciardo an “idiot” over team radio but insisted he wasn’t accusing his rival of wrongdoing.
“No, I don't think it's him,” Stroll said. “Everyone just slammed on the brakes, and he was the guy in front of me.
“I don't think he slammed on the brakes [more than others], it was, like I said, the concertina effect.”
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