Stroll explains why F1 China penalty for Ricciardo contact felt like “a joke”

The stewards swiftly exacted judgment on the incident, fully attributing blame to Stroll. The Canadian received a 10-second penalty and two penalty points, bringing his tally up to seven for the past 12 months.

“We determined that Car 18 ought to have anticipated the pace of the cars in front, particularly Car 3 and should have prepared to brake accordingly,” the FIA race stewards judged.

“Had it done that, it would have avoided the collision. Hence Car 18 was predominantly to blame for the collision that ultimately led to Car 3 having to retire from the race.”

Stroll’s actions were also slammed by Ricciardo, who said the Canadian’s lack of responsibility “made my blood boil”.

“I think it’s just because of the fact that I hit the guy,” Stroll said when asked by Autosport why he said the penalty was a joke on his team radio.

“I got a penalty because of the end result that I hit Ricciardo, but it’s not like everything was normal and I just slammed into the back of him.

“There was a really odd concertina effect that I would have liked to see the stewards take into consideration maybe a little bit more.

“Someone braked at the front of the pack and then everyone stops. The car in front of me just stopped from like 60 to zero. It was one of those stupid incidents.

“I was in his gearbox and ready for the restart, and just very unlucky. We were having a good race so then so it’s a shame.”

Alonso finished seventh after trying to make a three-stop work, but his progress through the field in the final stint halted when he got up to seventh.

Daniel Ricciardo, RB F1 Team VCARB 01

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

“We were on for eighth or ninth, so pretty normal for where the car is,” Stroll…