Helmut Marko blasts ‘unbelievable’ Lance Stroll as Daniel Ricciardo faces brutal penalty
Helmut Marko was far from impressed with Lance Stroll's driving at the Chinese Grand Prix last weekend.
Helmut Marko says Lance Stroll’s comments are ‘unbelievable’ after the Canadian labelled Daniel Ricciardo an ‘idiot’ in the immediate aftermath of their Chinese Grand Prix crash. The Aston Martin racer picked up a 10-second time penalty for the matter, but his rival ended the weekend much worse off.
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After Valtteri Bottas’ Sauber suffered a mechanical DNF and triggered the safety car, Stroll found himself behind Ricciardo in the queue. Heading into the Turn 14 hairpin, the Canadian appeared to take his eyes off the VCARB car in front, crashing into the back of the Aussie and destroying the rear diffuser.
Stroll, frustrated by his lapse in concentration, called the VCARB star an “idiot” and placed the blame on the drivers ahead for causing the concertina effect. The stewards, however, disagreed, and he was hit with a 10-second time penalty and two penalty points.
Ricciardo didn’t escape without punishment though. The 34-year-old was adjudged to have overtaken Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg under the safety car and following a lengthy post-race trip to the stewards. However, since he didn’t finish the race, the Aussie was slapped with a three-place grid drop for the Miami Grand Prix in two weeks.
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Assessing Ricciardo’s weekend in his column for Speedweek, Marko noted: “Daniel Ricciardo had a new chassis at his disposal in China, and the whole thing was planned from the start because it was our third chassis that we wanted to put on the track.
“But of course, this change also played into the psychology after Daniel's disappointing performances on the previous weekends. Things went much better for Ricciardo in China. I find it unbelievable that he was labelled an idiot by Lance Stroll after the chequered flag fell. And that he also had to accept a penalty for Miami. That really wasn't his weekend."
Marko wasn’t the only one frustrated with Stroll after the clash in Shanghai. When pressed about the Canadian’s comments after the race, Ricciardo was furious. The former Renault and McLaren star is fighting for his F1 future but saw his most promising weekend of the campaign so far wiped out through no fault of his own.
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"Maybe in an hour, when he sees it, he might take some accountability,” he said. “But if he doesn't, I can't help him, nor can anyone here. 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.”
