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Lance Stroll claimed the incident with Daniel Ricciardo caused damage to his front wing in the Chinese GP. Speaking to media including Sportskeeda after the race, the Aston Martin driver felt the stewards penalized him unfairly and should have looked at the bigger picture.
On lap 26 of the race behind the safety car, several cars started backing into a pack in the top 10 which was triggered by one of the cars in the front. It resulted in a ‘concertina’ effect as described by Lance Stroll which made the cars of Oscar Piastri and Daniel Ricciardo brake hard. As a result of the braking, the Canadian ended up catapulting his car into the rear of the RB car which further hit the diffuser of the McLaren ahead.
Lance Stroll felt the stewards needed to look at the incident at large which was catalyzed by the cars further up front. He was eventually slapped with a ten-second penalty in the race, which he termed a joke on the radio. The 25-year-old was also heard venting his frustrations at Ricciardo for slamming the brakes and accused the 34-year-old of braking too hard.
Asked by Sportskeeda about the damage to his car, Lance Stroll said:
“The front wing”
Asked what happened after the safety car, he added:
“Concertina effect. So someone braked at the front or the pack, I don't know who and then everyone stopped. Yeah the car in front of me just stopped from like 60 to zero and boom. So really stupid incident for us.”
Asked about his views on the penalty which he vented on the radio, Lance Stroll said:
“Yeah I think it’s just because of the fact that I hit the guy. But someone hit the brakes and caused the concertina, I don't know who. But I find it just that yeah, I got a penalty because of the end result that I hit Ricciardo. But it’s not like everything was normal and I slammed into the back of him. It was a really odd concertina effect, that I would really like to see the stewards take into consideration and really do a bit more. It is what it is.”
Lance Stroll justifies his critical comments about Daniel Ricciardo on the radio during the Chinese GP
Daniel Ricciardo was not pleased after hearing the radio comments of Lance Stroll directed at his braking. However, he carefully chose his words while speaking to the media and revealed that the onboard cameras showed the Canadian looking at the apex of the corner ahead instead of focusing on the car in front.
Reacting to the RB driver’s comments, the Aston Martin driver clarified that he did not blame him but felt it was a catalytic effect that included everyone. Stroll further stated that there was no warning from the cars ahead that they were slowing down to snail’s speed.
Upon being told about Ricciardo’s reaction to his radio, Lance Stroll clarified his statements and said:
“I don't think it was him, it was everyone. He just slammed the brakes in front of me so I don't think he slammed the brakes. But like I said it was a concertina effect.”
Commenting on Ricciardo’s observation from the onboards, he said:
“No no. If someone didn’t hit the brakes in the front, there's no concertina effect. Wouldn’t have been any issues, so I really think it was a kind of a stupid incident.”
Asked if there was any warning from the cars ahead backing into him or braking hard, Lance Stroll said:
“No no it was like we were going at 60 and then it started to slow a little bit and zero all of a sudden. It was a little wrong place to, I was in his gearbox kind of a thing and reassured for the restart. Just very unlucky, we were having a good race until then, just a shame.”
Due to the ten-second penalty, Lance Stroll eventually finished outside the points in 15th place. His teammate Fernando Alonso finished further up in seventh place. His last race in Japan also ended up outside the points where he finished 12th.
The former Williams driver has been able to score only nine points in the last five races. Aston Martin is currently fifth in the standings with a total of 40 points.
