F*** that guy! Ricciardo BLASTS F1 rival after controversial Chinese GP incident

Daniel Ricciardo wearing headphones at the 2023 Abu Dhabi GP — Photo: © IMAGO

Chinese Grand Prix

F*** that guy! Ricciardo BLASTS F1 rival after controversial Chinese GP incident

Daniel Ricciardo delivers brutal response to incident with Lance Stroll

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Sunday 21 April 2024 21:57

Daniel Ricciardo has torn into a rival driver in an explicit rant following the Chinese Grand Prix.

A dramatic incident after the safety car restart on lap 27, saw Lance Stroll hit the rear of Ricciardo’s car sending him into the air.

Article continues under video

Stroll was slapped with a 10 second penalty for the incident, finishing 15th out of the remaining runners.

However, the Australian’s race was ruined by the collision, causing damage to his car and forcing him to retire.

Daniel Ricciardo retired from the Chinese GP

Lance Stroll caused a bizarre incident with Daniel Ricciardo

Ricciardo tears into Stroll after ‘idiot’ insult

After the race Ricciardo delivered a brutal assessment of the incident and Stroll.

"Maybe in an hour, when he sees it, he might take some accountability. But if he doesn't, I can't help him, nor can anyone here," Ricciardo said according to Autosport.

"It's so frustrating. Obviously, racing incidents happen, but behind a safety car, that should never happen. What made my blood boil is I watched his onboard, to just see it from his perspective.

"And as soon as we start braking, you can see his helmet turn right and he's looking at the apex of Turn 14, he's not even watching me. And then when he looks back, he's in the back of me.

"I don't know what he's doing, where his head is, but all he has to do is worry about me in that situation, and he clearly wasn't. Let's see what he says in the media, but if he comes after me, then I'll say more..."

"I'd slowly started to calm down, and then I was told what Lance thinks of the incident. Apparently, I'm an idiot, and it was my fault. 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's gonna do. 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, too! But if that's what he thinks..."

Despite Ricciardo’s anger, Stroll's refused to take responsibility for the incident.

"I don't think it was him," Stroll said. "Everyone just slammed on the brakes and he was the guy in front of me. So I don't think he slammed on the brakes, It was a concertina effect.

"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.

"There was a really odd concertina effect that I would have liked to see the stewards take into consideration maybe a little bit more."

Mercedes Daniel Ricciardo Chinese Grand Prix Lance Stroll