A video from Carlos Sainz’s onboard camera could partially explain the dynamics of the incident between Lance Stroll and Daniel Ricciardo in the Chinese Grand Prix.
In recent hours, there has been much talk about Lance Stroll’s rear-end collision with Daniel Ricciardo during the Chinese GP under Safety Car conditions, with the Australian subsequently forced to retire due to excessive damage to the rear of his RB01. Despite the Canadian complaining vigorously via radio, the race direction decided to opt for a ten-second penalty and two points on his license.
“We have established that car 18 should have anticipated the speed of the cars in front of it, particularly car 3, and should have prepared to brake accordingly,” the stewards pronounced in the statement issued at the end of the race.
“If it had done so, it would have avoided the collision. Consequently, car 18 was predominantly responsible for the collision that ultimately led to the retirement of car 3.”
Interviewed after the race, Lance Stroll accused the drivers in front of him of slowing down too much and too suddenly, expressing absolute disagreement with the penalty he received: “There was a really strange accordion effect that I wish the stewards had taken a little more into account.”
“Someone braked at the head of the group and then everyone stopped. The car in front of me went from 60 km/h to zero. It was one of those stupid incidents. I was in his gearbox and ready to restart, but I was very unlucky. We were having a good race. It’s a shame.”
According to the onboard video that emerged on social media in the last hours, that someone could be Carlos Sainz. In the footage, indeed, the Spaniard can be seen taking quite a bit of space from Sergio Perez, then getting closer again and braking anew.
This surprised Fernando Alonso behind him, who was forced to lock up and steer left to avoid colliding with his compatriot. In turn, Fernando Alonso’s move also affected the drivers behind, eventually leading to the contact between Lance Stroll and Daniel Ricciardo. Clearly, as reiterated by the Australian in interviews, Lance Stroll paid very little attention to the driver in front of him, looking towards the apex of the corner rather than at the number 3 RB.
Therefore, the penalty seems fair, but perhaps with a few more mitigating factors that would partially diminish the error made by the Canadian.
Here is the link to the onboard video.
https://twitter.com/amf1news/status/1781984885307048441
Source: f1ingenerale
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