‘No excuse’: Daniel Ricciardo scolds F1 rival over race-ending incident

Australian Formula 1 star Daniel Ricciardo has scolded a rival driver after his near-perfect weekend was ruined in horror scenes.

Daniel Ricciardo scolds Lance Stroll

Daniel Ricciardo has torn shreds off an F1 rival after his race at the China Grand Prix was ruined in a horror incident.

The 34-year-old Aussie was sitting inside the top 10 when Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll thundered into the back of his car.

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As the entire grid bunched up behind the safety car, they all prepared to get back underway when chaos unfolded on the second last corner.

A slight mistake from Fernando Alonso heading into the hairpin caused a devastating ripple effect that saw every driver behind come within a whisker of crashing into the car in front.

For Ricciardo he was the unlucky one in the bunch with Stroll not reacting in time and slamming into the back of the Aussie.

The impact ruined Ricciardo’s Visa CashApp RB and ultimately saw the team retire the car a handful of laps later.

Ricciardo cut a dejected figure as he got out of his car and walked to the back of the team garage before addressing the incident post-race.

Ricciardo hit hard by Lance Stroll

“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.”

Ricciardo is normally a cool customer but he eviscerated Stroll after hearing he had blamed the Aussie for the crash.

“I’d slowly started to calm down and then I was told what Lance thinks of the incident,” he 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.”

Lance Stroll sends Ricciardo off the ground.

Stroll eventually fronted the media and addressed the incident along with his reasoning for venting over the team radio.

“I just got a penalty because of the end result, that I hit Ricciardo,” Stroll argued.

“But it’s not like everything was normal and I just slammed into the back of him.

“There was a really odd concertina effect there.”

After being told that Ricciardo was critical and thought Stroll was blaming him, Stroll said: “No, I don’t think it’s him. 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.”

Ricciardo had enjoyed a return to form over the course of the weekend and said that once the disappointment of the incident wears off the team will look back on the positive signs.

“I think that’s where right now it’s even more disappointing for us as a team, in the garage, I think everyone feels like it’s kind of another blow to the start of the season,” he said.

“But I think in 48 hours from now when this disappointment starts to fade, we’ll look back on a positive weekend.”

Max Verstappen produced another stellar showing to claim his fourth victory on the season, finishing ahead of Lando Norris and Sergio Perez.

Fellow Australian Oscar Piastri was again in the points, finishing eighth despite dealing with a damaged car late in the race.

The Formula 1 paddock will now head to the United States, with the next race to take place in Miami on May 6.

Originally published as ‘No excuse’: Daniel Ricciardo scolds F1 rival over race-ending incident