Lance Stroll’s opposing take on “stupid incident” with Daniel Ricciardo

Lance Stroll has labelled his collision with Daniel Ricciardo in the F1 Chinese Grand Prix as a “stupid incident” and “very unlucky”.

Stroll rear-ended Ricciardo as the field bunched up at the hairpin just before a Safety Car restart, a collision which sent the RB driver airborne.

The contact caused significant damage to Ricciardo’s car and ultimately forced the Australian to retire.

Stroll continued and finished 15th but was handed a 10-second time penalty for causing the collision.

While a furious Ricciardo was absolutely convinced Stroll was at fault, the Canadian blamed a “really odd concertina effect”.

“Someone braked at the front of the pack, I don’t know who. And then everyone stops. The car in front of me just stopped from like 60 to zero, so a really stupid incident. It was one of those,” Stroll explained.

“I think [the penalty] is just because of the fact that I hit the guy. But someone hit the brakes and caused the concertina. I don’t know who.

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

“We’re going 60 and then started to slow a little bit for it. And then zero all of a sudden. It’s just a little bit wrong place too, I was in his gearbox kind of thing and ready for the restart, and just very unlucky. We were having a good race so then so it’s a shame.

“If someone didn’t hit the brakes in front, there wouldn’t have been any concertina effect, there wouldn’t have been any issues. I really think it was one of those stupid incidents.”

Stroll was heard calling Ricciardo an “idiot” over team radio but insisted he wasn’t accusing his rival of wrongdoing.

“No, I don't think it's him,” Stroll said. “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.”