Ricciardo: “Desperate” Stroll deserved penalty for F1 Styrian GP move

Daniel Ricciardo was left frustrated with how his Styrian Grand Prix ended after he lost two positions in the closing laps.

Ricciardo was overtaken by Lance Stroll into Turn 3 on the penultimate lap. Stroll dived up the inside, forcing Ricciardo wide and off the circuit - allowing Norris to get past as well.

The Renault driver believed Stroll deserved a penalty, but the stewards confirmed shortly after the race that they would be taking no further action.

“He forced both of us off the track,"Ricciardo said. “I will always be critical of myself, I should have closed the door but I don’t think he was ever making the move so I think it was desperate. 

“Lando was coming and I think he had to do something or Lando was going to eat him up. [If] I take the apex and we crash. Just a frustrating end. Obviously, we lost the position to Lando. I think we will get the one back on Stroll, but it’s a bit of a shame to end the race like that.’’

Ricciardo revealed his pace in the second half of the race was compromised by a few technical gremlins, which he did not disclose. 

“The first part [of the race] was OK on the medium, we were quite strong and with the soft - after the pit stop - we had a few other issues and then the soft wasn’t really working as well as we'd have liked. But I thought we were doing well onto Lance but then obviously two laps to go it fell apart a little bit.’’

The Renault-Racing Point fall-out doesn't stop here with the French manufacturer launching a protest regarding the legality of Racing Point's 2020 car, dubbed by many rivals as the 'Pink Mercedes' due to its similarities to Mercedes' 2019 title-winning W10.