F1 News: Daniel Ricciardo Reveals Tension With Lance Stroll After Chinese GP Crash

Daniel Ricciardo remains disillusioned with Lance Stroll over the unresolved conflict since their clash at the Chinese Grand Prix, with no indication of reconciliation in sight.

May 2, 2024; Miami Gardens, Florida, USA; RB driver Daniel Ricciardo (3) takes part in a NFL / Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports

The tension between Daniel Ricciardo and Lance Stroll following their collision at the Chinese Grand Prix remains thick. Weeks later, with no resolution in sight, Ricciardo has openly expressed his frustrations over Stroll's lack of accountability.

At the heart of the conflict was an incident during a safety car period at the Chinese Grand Prix. As the field bunched up approaching the hairpin, Lance Stroll's Aston Martin made contact with Daniel Ricciardo's RB, resulting in significant damage to Ricciardo's car and his subsequent retirement from the race. Despite the collision's impact on his race outcome, Stroll received only a time penalty and, notably, did not publicly acknowledge his role in the incident.

Following the collision, Ricciardo's frustration was palpable. He voiced his displeasure shortly after the incident, sparing no thoughts about Stroll's silence. 

"F*** that guy."

As the F1 circus moved towards the Miami Grand Prix, it became clear that there had been no reconciliation—or even communication—between the two drivers. Ricciardo made it clear that he saw little point in initiating a conversation with Stroll, given the latter's stance. He commented to the media:

"I feel it's [the conversation] not going to go anywhere."

Still, Ricciardo indicated that he would be open to reconciliation if Stroll were to reach out and admit his mistake.

"If he texted just saying, ‘Yeah, you know, my bad, whatever’, okay, I can accept an apology. I'm not that much of an a**hole. But the fact that there's not even that, I'm like, he clearly doesn't think he did anything wrong. So, I guess there's not much to say."

Stroll said to the media following the Chinese Grand Prix:

“I don’t know, but I find it’s just – I got a penalty because of the end result that I hit Ricciardo, but it’s not like everything was normal and I just ploughed into the back of him.

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

“I guess a little bit wrong place [at the wrong time] too, you know, I was on his gearbox kind of thing and ready for the restart and just very unlucky – we were having a good race until then, so it’s a shame.”