“I can accept an apology. I’m not that much of an a**hole”: Daniel Ricciardo on whether Lance Stroll apologized to him post-China

Daniel Ricciardo finds no reason to have a conversation with Lance Stroll, who has been unapologetic about the Chinese GP shunt. Speaking to onsite media in Miami, the RB driver reckoned that the Aston Martin driver had not accepted his mistake or apologized to him for the incident.

In the Chinese GP, Stroll miscalculated the cars ahead and ended up shunting Ricciardo in the rear ahead of the safety card restart. The incident resulted in the Australian retiring from the race and the Canadian receiving a 10-second penalty. The RB retired from the race after 33 laps while the McLaren of Oscar Piastri was also damaged as it was ahead. Speaking to media including Sportskeeda after the race, Stroll was unapologetic and felt the incident was a result of a concertina effect due to the cars ahead and blamed the stewards for not analyzing the incident properly and slapping a harsh penalty.

As an immediate reaction to the incident, Stroll was also seen cussing at Ricciardo calling him an idiot on the radio. The radio message and unapologetic demeanour of the 25-year-old had infuriated the 34-year-old resulting in some strong words after the race. Speaking ahead of the Miami, the latter felt there was very little conversation to have with the former, if there was no acceptance towards the mistakes made.

The RB driver reflected upon his own mistakes in the past and felt that an apology was needed for the clash. Asked if he received an apology from Stroll after the incident, Ricciardo said:

“No. I would say no, because I feel it’s not gonna go anywhere. 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**ehole. But the fact that there’s not even that, he clearly doesn’t think he did anything wrong. So I guess there’s not much to say. If we sit next to each other tomorrow at the driver’s briefing and he wants to chat, I’m not gonna ignore him or anything.”

Reflecting upon his incidents in the past, Ricciardo added:

“Look, when I was younger, maybe I was more stubborn and maybe I didn’t always apologise for something that was my fault. But certainly, like the last few years, if I make a mistake or take someone out, or even if it’s like 50/50, I’ll still say ‘Yeah, maybe I could have done better so sorry for ruining our day’.I remember I think it was maybe Kevin [Magnussen] in Brazil [2023] or Yuki [Tsunoda] in Mexico the year before when I was still at McLaren in 2022, I didn’t honestly think I was fully at fault for that one but I still kind of was like ‘Alright, I’ll just text him, clear the air a little bit.”

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Daniel Ricciardo suggests he has moved on from Lance Stroll and accepted the penalty ahead of the Miami GP

Daniel Ricciardo feels there is no animosity from his end towards Lance Stroll for the incident in the Chinese GP. Although he reckons he will move on from it he felt he deserved an apology. The former Red Bull Racing driver felt frustrated after the incident with the Canadian driver but the three-place grid penalty for another incident added to his miseries.

Daniel Ricciardo had overtaken Nico Hulkenberg behind the safety car for which he has been penalized three grid places for the Miami race. He owned up to his mistake and felt the German driver was not in the wrong. However, the setback from China has motivated him more for the race weekend ahead.

Summarising his views on the Stroll incident, Ricciardo said:

“I just don’t think we need, from my side at least. Yeah, we’re all rivals but you don’t want to have a target, I guess, and you don’t need enemies. Like not going as far as saying he’s an enemy or anything. It’s an incident and we’ll move on but you don’t obviously want to get what you’re given and, again, I’m not directing this at him but it’s my approach and, of course, if I’ve got on track stuff with someone then let’s run it out and see what happens. It doesn’t need to be anything so I’m not saying it will be but, in that position, if I didn’t see him in person I would at least say ‘Hey, man, sorry I was looking somewhere else’ or ‘You braked really hard, it caught me off guard’, whatever, just something but, yeah, it’s fine. I have certainly moved on but I was frustrated.”

Asked about the second incident for which he was a penalised, Daniel Ricciardo said:

“Actually, the three-place penalty because that one, I put my hand up – I was frustrated and I should know the rules better. But they saw it pretty black and white. Nico did nothing wrong. For me, they were a little bit one-sided in that one. So yeah, I paid the price for that. So a little bit of fire to bring to the track this weekend.”

Despite the setback, Daniel Ricciardo had shown a turn around in his form and performance at the Chinese GP, until the shunt. Still in the hunt for his first points this season, he remains determined to turn around his performance slump. With the Red Bull Racing seat for 2025 being the primary goal, the Perth born driver could have only a few more races to prove his worth and build his case for a future in the sport. His team principal Laurent Mekies has shown faith in him and his abilities despite the setback in China and early slump in performance. The Frenchman also reckoned that the future updates on the car could paint a different picture for the Australian in the future races.