Sky F1 commentator David Croft is shocked by Aston Martin’s attempt to protect Lance Stroll after his collision with Daniel Ricciardo in China and wonders if there is more to this than meets the eye It shows.
Stroll rammed Ricciardo’s RB car into the rear before the safety car restarted, and the force of Stroll’s impact lifted the car off the ground, causing race-ending damage to Ricciardo’s RB car.
Is Aston Martin trying to prevent Lance Stroll from leaving?
Much to Ricciardo’s annoyance, Stroll refused to accept responsibility for the incident, instead claiming that the “concertina effect” made him unable to avoid contact. The stewards disagreed and gave Stroll a 10 second time penalty and added two points to his FIA Superlicence.
Mr. Croft also did not accept Mr. Stroll’s excuses and made it clear that Mr. Stroll was 100% responsible for the incident.
“From what we saw at the time, it looked like the concertina effect was started by Fernando Alonso, because to be fair, he was the one who locked up,” Croft said on the Sky F1 Podcast. I started.
“But we know that and of course everyone is slowing down. The safety car will come in and they’ll start moving again and at some stage Max will be leaving and he’s hoping for the best getaway. And all the drivers know it.
“And the only person you should be paying attention to is the man in front of you. If you look on the plane, Lance is obviously looking that way.” [to the right] into his mirror. I don’t know why. What does he expect to happen on the right? Someone shoot down or overtake? No, you are behind the safety car and have to keep an eye on the car in front of you.
“And it’s clear to me that he looked in the mirror and looked straight ahead and thought.” [oh no] Daniel moved a little closer and tried to stop him, but he couldn’t. It’s entirely his fault. ”
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Stroll wasn’t the only one to draw criticism from Croft, who was unimpressed with Aston Martin’s efforts to protect him. Team principal Mike Kulak called the stewards’ decision “extreme. quickly and very harshly.”
Mr Croft said he saw no logical basis for Aston Martin’s complaints and pointed to Aston Martin’s similar reaction when Stroll’s teammate Alonso was punished in Australia for a high-speed run by George Russell. looked back. Speculation is swirling about Stroll’s F1 future, but is Aston Martin afraid of losing him?
“I’m surprised the team came out and defended in this game as well,” Croft continued.
“It’s like Fernando Alonso’s penalty in Australia. Three days later the team comes out and defends Fernando Alonso and you think, ‘Why would you do that?'” That debate is over now. I feel like it was. Why are you waiting so long? Oh yeah, you’re negotiating a contract, but you want him to stay. ”
“It’s like, ‘We root for Lance because we want him to stay on the team.’ So, is there a risk that Lance won’t be there? I don’t know the answer to that.
“But I don’t understand defense and I don’t understand why Lance can’t raise his hand because that’s what adults say, ‘Yeah, I looked in the mirror.’ .”
Stroll has scored nine points in the opening five races of the 2024 F1 season, while Alonso has 31 points.
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