Ricciardo 'Robbed Of All Chances' After Stroll's Crash Says Marko

Thursday, 25 April 2024 at 16:45

Helmut Marko made his feelings about the incident between Daniel Ricciardo and Lance Stroll clear when he suggested the RB driver "was robbed" after their collision.

Lance Stroll ran into the back of Daniel Ricciardo's VCARB while braking in turn 14 on lap 26. This crash resulted in the Aston Martin driver's broken front wing.

However, Stroll was the one who was better off because his front wing could easily be replaced. The damage that the crash caused to the Australian driver's car floor and rear diffuser was irreparable.

The Honey Badger tried to continue in the race, but after one lap of running, it became clear he had lost too much performance as a result of the collision and had to retire his car. Marko wrote in his column for Speedweek.com:

"Daniel Ricciardo was hit by Lance Stroll in China and unfortunately was robbed of all chances."

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The incident was more upsetting for the 34-year-old driver because he was running in ninth position, and it seemed like he was on the right path to achieving his first point-finish this season.

"Ricciardo had a new chassis available in China and the whole thing was planned from the start because it is our third chassis that we wanted to bring to the track."

"But of course this change also played into psychology after Daniel's disappointing performances on the previous weekends. Things went much better for Ricciardo in China."

The cherry on top of everything that happened to Ricciardo was when Stroll refused to take the blame for the incident and called the person braking ahead of him an idiot.

It was initially understood this remark was targeted at Ricciardo, but the 25-year-old driver later added it wasn't necessarily the RB driver. Nevertheless, Helmut Marko found that statement unbelievable as he added:

"I find it unbelievable that Lance Stroll called him an idiot after the checkered flag fell. And that he also had to receive a penalty for Miami. This really wasn't his weekend."