Lance Stroll received a 10-second time penalty at the 2024 Chinese GP after the Canadian rear-ended Daniel Ricciardo at the first Safety Car restart. In the aftermath of the incident, Aston Martin team principal, Mike Krack labeled the stewards’ decision as ‘very harsh’. In response, ex-McLaren mechanic, Marc Priestley laughed off Krack’s comments while giving his verdict on the entire incident.
Priestley came onto his YouTube channel to explain his analysis of the incident. He said, “I don’t buy that at all. It was a horrendous move – he wasn’t looking where he was going,” in response to Krack’s appraisal of the time penalty dished out to his driver, Stroll.
At the first Safety Car restart, Stroll seemingly was looking in his mirrors on the approach to the Turn 14 hairpin. This meant that as the pack bunched up, Stroll missed his braking point and rear-ended the V-CARB of Ricciardo. In turn, the #3 driver also hit Oscar Piastri who also suffered from floor damage as a result.
After the race, Daniel Ricciardo got to know about Stroll’s comments on the entire incident. The Canadian had essentially blamed Ricciardo for the incident, prompting the Honey Badger to admit Stroll had “made my blood boil” per Motorsport.com.
Piastri, who was also caught in this incident as an innocent victim, took a swipe at the #18 driver. The young Australian said, saying, “Everyone else didn’t crash into each other.”
Chinese GP shunt ruins the day for Lance Stroll amid Aston Martin resurgence
That little incident on track didn’t cost Stroll just 10 seconds on his race time. The impact with Ricciardo disintegrated the front wing of Stroll’s AMR24. This meant the Canadian had to pit and lost crucial time and track position.
In the end, the Aston Martin driver finished a lowly 15th, some 82 seconds behind the leader, Max Verstappen. Ricciardo on the other hand, had it worse. The impact with Stroll meant that the entirety of his underside was destroyed, leaving only half a diffuser in its wake. This meant that the #3 driver couldn’t even finish the race and was forced to retire.
The only saving grace for Aston Martin was their second driver, Fernando Alonso. The #14 driver drove a solid race, and despite a bizarre and unrewarding strategy, he fought through the field in the closing stages of the race to clinch a well-deserved seventh-place finish.
From Stroll’s perspective, he has a lot of work to do relative to his Spanish teammate. The 25-year-old has faced a lot of scrutiny for his underperformance compared to Alonso. Thus, if the Canadian cannot improve his results, the Silverstone team may have to conduct a tough conversation with him.
