'No point': Ricciardo whacks unapologetic rival

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03/05/2024 03:19

Daniel Ricciardo has revealed Lance Stroll has not apologised for taking him out of a potentially points-scoring position in the Chinese Grand Prix.

But, the Aussie believes there's no point in Stroll doing so if it isn't genuine.

The Aussie was already furious with the collision, and was further incensed when told the Aston Martin driver had dodged blame for the incident, instead pointing at Ricciardo and the other drivers ahead.

"I feel it's not going to go anywhere," Ricciardo told Motorsport.com when asked ahead of this weekend's Miami Grand Prix if he wanted to talk to Stroll.

"I can accept an apology – I'm not that much of an asshole. 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.

"Obviously, if we sit next to each other in the drivers' briefing and he wants to chat, I'm not going to ignore him or anything."

Ricciardo was enjoying what was to that point his strongest weekend of the year. He had been given a fresh chassis by his RB team and saw an immediate lift in performance.

He had also been taken out on the opening lap the race before in Japan.

And Ricciardo wasn't the only Aussie whose race was ruined in the Stroll crash. The collision pushed him into the rear of Oscar Piastri's McLaren in front, which damaged his diffuser and compromised his pace later in the race.

Ricciardo said he'd made a habit of reaching out to other drivers after comings-together if there was any doubt about where blame lay.

"When I was younger, maybe I was more stubborn, didn't always apologise for something that was my fault," he said.

"But the last few years, if I take someone out or even if it's 50/50, I'll still say: 'Look, maybe I could have done better, so sorry for ruining our day.'

"I'll just text them – clear the air a little bit.

"We're all rivals, but you don't want to have a target and you don't need enemies. I'm not going as far as saying he is an enemy or anything. It's an incident and we'll move on.

"But you don't obviously want to get what you're giving. 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 and caught me off guard.' Whatever, just something.

"But yeah, it's fine. Obviously we're talking about it, but I have certainly moved on."

In his own media interviews in Miami, Stroll continued to dodge questions about the China incident.

When asked if he'd even attempted to reach out to Ricciardo, Stroll said: "Not for this room. Those things are done behind closed doors."

The Miami Grand Prix is the second successive Sprint weekend. The Sprint will get underway at 2am Sunday (AEST), followed by qualifying for the grand prix at 6am (AEST).

The grand prix will start at 6am Monday (AEST).