Daniel Ricciardo, Renault, Red Bull Ring, 2020

Stewards now accept Stroll’s Styrian GP pass wasn’t legal – Ricciardo

2020 Hungarian Grand Prix

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Daniel Ricciardo says Formula 1’s stewards now accept Lance Stroll’s overtaking move on him during the Styrian Grand Prix was not legal, having allowed it to stand last week.

Stroll went off the track, taking Ricciardo with him, when he passed the Renault driver at turn two on the penultimate lap of the race at the Red Bull Ring. The stewards took no action over the incident, ruling neither driver was wholly responsible.

However Ricciardo said that following discussions in Friday’s drivers’ briefing with F1 race director Michael Masi, he expects similar moves in future will not go unpunished.

“If it happens again today then we swap positions,” said Ricciardo. “I think after the facts they accepted that they would have done something different. But once Sunday night passes and Monday rolls over, the results are fixed and they can’t go back and switch positions or anything.”

Ricciardo said he was “a bit frustrated” that Stroll’s pass, which also cost him a position to Lando Norris, did not attract a penalty.

“There is a little bit of comfort knowing that wouldn’t stick moving forwards so I guess we can take that,” he said. “But I just felt like at the time it should have been more clear and more obvious.

“Some of the conversations was also around me going off the track but obviously it wasn’t my choice. I didn’t drive off there for good fun. So we discussed that, they basically admitted they would do it different next time. It doesn’t help me now or a few days ago.”

Ricciardo said the move was originally compared to Max Verstappen’s pass on Charles Leclerc at the same corner during last year’s Austrian Grand Prix. The stewards ruled that pass was legal, confirming Verstappen’s victory, several hours after the race.

“I think they’re aware that there’s a difference between that incident and the Leclerc-Verstappen incident last year,” said Ricciardo. “And that’s the big one.

“It’s the same corner and it’s still a very different outcome of the incident. So I think that aligns with that now, it’s not the same as first. I think they did feel it was the same, which is why the initial penalty wasn’t given.”

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16 comments on “Stewards now accept Stroll’s Styrian GP pass wasn’t legal – Ricciardo”

  1. I myself was a bit surprised Stroll was allowed to keep the position. It was pretty clear to me he ran Daniel off the track. I wonder what changed between last weekend & now, other than them being forced to justify it…

    1. Sounds like the change was Michael Massi showing some sense in the drivers meeting

    2. I think, rather than the fact Daniel went off-track (which can legitimately go unpunished under certain circumstances), it was the fact that Stroll went off-track in order to complete the overtake. Same with Daniel on Kimi in France last year and Max on Kimi in USA a few years back. It’s as if the stewards forgot that you have to keep the car on-track when overtaking (though I guess an exception is if the defending driver forces an attacking driver off-track, such as Max’s overtake on Charles at Silverstone last year? I have no idea…)

    3. They actually had a driver that knew what they were talking about rather having 4 incompetent stewards in a room who don’t even know their own rule book. That’s what changed.

      Masi showing sense because he wasn’t able to justify the lack of penalty. It’s pretty clear cut. You cannot overtake outside track limits and maintain an advantage. Same with Verstappen on Kimi in the US, or Ricciardo on Kimi in France in 18′ when they both got penalties.

      To use last years incident as a precedent is a joke from the stewards because the circumstances of that overtake attempt was different to what happened with Stroll/Ricciardo.

  2. What?
    d20 dice roll during the meeting ruled this as illegal?

    Astonishing!

    1. @dallein Haha, come to think of it, the stewarding does remind me of the headless chicken scene in South Park’s “Margheritaville” episode, for those that have seen it.

  3. With all the ongoing controversies of VAR, Formula One sure is doing its best to trump football. Stewarding under Masi has been utterly atrocious.

    1. It has been atrocious for couple of years before Masi took over.

    2. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
      19th July 2020, 13:59

      Yes, it’s actually unbelievable that with all the technology and the experience that they have, they still manage to outdo football.

  4. GtisBetter (@)
    19th July 2020, 12:14

    What a mess.

  5. Danie! wants to get unemployed. quit it.
    F1 is like a headless chicken. far worse than before the new ceo, it keeps declining and Masi in particular is not a quick learner. The politics, bias, indecision, grey clouds all round f1, don’t matter as f1 paints a rainbow on all the problems. As long as Ham wins and Max is nearby, f1 is safe, that’s what the big audiences wants.

    1. Yeah they need to get rid of those Ferrari bonuses. Very bias like you said.

  6. Congrats. Lets just dive bomb race drivers all day and get no pens. Sounds like great racing……… good joke

  7. For those watching the race it was clearly a dive-bomb-torpedo-like-kyviat-special manoeuver that Ricciardo successfully avoided.
    The “natural” outcome of that was Stroll’s front left hitting Ricciardo’s sidepods. It ruined around 10 perfect laps from Ricciardo defending his position from a faster car without relying on any dirty moves.
    F1 should reward that type of racing, and punish the kamikaze-it’s-your-decision-not-to-crash.
    Can you imagine the outcome of that very same move if Ricciardo and Norris were fighting for the championship?
    Maybe F1 cares, maybe not, maybe those kind of things spice up the show. But I’m sure RP wasn’t so happy either. They gained one position from Ricciardo, but lost two to Norris. He would never get Perez in time without that mess.

  8. I guess it didn’t go well when Masi asked Ricciardo to apologize to Stroll for his part of the “racing incident.”

  9. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
    19th July 2020, 14:03

    The stewards are such a complete and utter joke. F1 should advertise who they are on TV so their shame lives on for eternity along with their decision. There’s absolutely zero accountability judging F1 and it’s all done in the shadows by 3 practically anonymours people.

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