Daniel Ricciardo Labelled an “Idiot” by Lance Stroll Despite Slamming Into the VCARB Himself

Returning to the Chinese Grand Prix after five years was going to lead to some unexpected results. Despite Max Verstappen leading the race for most of the duration, there were quite a few retirements. With 3 out of 20 cars retired, the race was puzzled with multiple safety cars.

During the safety car exit, Fernando Alonso had a lock-up leading to all the drivers breaking on the first turn after the safety car’s exit. Unfortunately, Daniel Ricciardo and Lance Stroll made contact leading to damage to the VCARB driver’s floor. While it was Stroll who rear-ended the Australian driver, the Aston Martin pilot blamed the collision on the Honey Badger.

Lance Stroll didn’t have the last laugh

The Canadian-Belgian racer didn’t hit the brakes as hard as he needed to and that led him to not only hit Ricciardo’s car from the back but lift it in the air, causing floor damage. Despite it being Stroll’s fault, his radio message made it clear that he thought it was Ricciardo’s wrongdoing.

Calling Daniel Ricciardo an “idiot” for hitting the breaks, Stroll tried to blame the Australian driver, but that did not work. In the end, it was the Aston Martin driver was ultimately given a 10 seconds stop and go penalty. However, many have opined that there was no place for the Racing Bull driver to go as he was directly behind a McLaren and a brake any slower would mean he would hit the car ahead of him.

The collision caused floor damage for Daniel Ricciardo as his car was scooped up by the Aston Martin. This led to the 8-time Grand Prix winner retiring at the Chinese GP. Daniel Ricciardo fans must be extremely disheartened because that contact lost him the chance to score his first points of the season.

Lance Stroll’s punishment at the Chinese Grand Prix

Lance Stroll was penalized for causing the crash, but that was not the only thing he had to face. The 10-second penalty didn’t only cost the Aston Martin driver points, but also ended up with him coming in last. The Chinese Grand Prix started quite well for Stroll as he recorded the fastest time during the first free practice.

Despite having an upper hand to understand the track, things didn’t work out in his favor. The fastest lap set during the free practice was 1 minute, 36.302 seconds by Lance Stroll and looking at this, it was highly expected for the Canadian driver to perform. However, the collision cost the driver and the team points which were very much needed to have an advantage against Mercedes.

The team that was almost beating Mercedes now has a bigger gap than before. What was initially just a one point difference initially, has now become a 12 point lead for Mercedes. That being said, do you think that Aston Martin will be able to take Mercedes during the 2024 season? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.