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Daniel Ricciardo says the legality of moves like Lance Stroll’s aggressive but unpenalised late-race pass during the Styrian Grand Prix will be raised in the Formula 1 drivers’ briefing in Hungary this weekend.
The Renault driver was running sixth at the Red Bull Ring when Stroll dived up the inside into the Turn 3 hairpin, with Ricciardo unable to turn in and taking to the run-off as the Racing Point also failed to make the corner.
While Ricciardo says he wants the rules governing racing to allow space for marginal moves, he felt Stroll’s move was a “failed attempt” and that he should either have been penalised or moved back behind the Renault.
“I’ve never wanted to have the rules so tight that it discourages us to race, so I don’t want to feel we’re kind of driving on eggshells and scared to pull the trigger,” said Ricciardo.
“But there’s trying and also failing. Both of us went off track – me because obviously if I turn in, we crash, but he also brought himself off the track with us.
“So he tried a move, which he was completely in his right to do so. I left room, which I guess I shouldn’t have, but he tried and because we both went off I see that as a failed attempt, so the position should have been given back.
“That’s pretty crystal clear. I think if he made the corner and kind of squeezed me off, then I accept that and that’s a move. But to get both of us off, that’s where it’s like ‘I don’t see how that works in any situation’.
“But we’ll talk about in the drivers’ briefing and see everyone’s opinion, what they say.
“I can’t see any drivers saying, ‘yeah, that’s a clean move’, like that’s how it’s going to work because it just never adds up like that.”
Ricciardo believes this incident needs to be taken up formally with fellow drivers and even the stewards so the rules of battle are well-known by all involved.
He said it’s not necessary for him to discuss is with Stroll directly as he doesn’t see the Canadian’s attempt as a specific problem.
“I don’t think it was Lance’s intention to take both of us off,” said Ricciardo.
“When he went up down the inside, I’m sure he knew it was going to be tight because it was already quite narrow and he came from a fair way back.
“But I don’t think he expected or wanted both of us to go off track. Obviously, he just kept his foot into it and thought ‘if I get a penalty I do, if not then I’ll claim the move’.
“So I don’t think it’s necessarily something that you need to discuss with the driver, as if [to say] ‘yeah, that was a dirty move, what were you thinking’.
“It’s more that this needs to be spoken to as a group, with us drivers and the stewards together to try and educate everyone on what we think is right and wrong.
“I don’t expect say Lance, for example, to go and do this this weekend and think he’s going to get away with it all the time, but that’s where we need to talk on probably Friday in the drivers’ briefing.”
While Ricciardo had finished eighth in the Styrian GP, Renault team-mate Esteban Ocon retired with a cooling issue – which the team admitted was the same cooling issue that had ruled out Ricciardo the weekend prior.
Though Renault had already once prematurely declared the problem resolved before Ocon’s retirement proved otherwise, its two drives have faith that it has now been put to bed.
“In motorsport the risk [of a failure] is never zero, or course. But we think we know the issue, we think we’ve solved it and hopefully it won’t happen again,” Ocon said.
“Of course, it is two times an issue that we didn’t want to have. But we need to make now the most of the opportunities we’ve got.”
“We’re told that it all looks a lot more promising now,” Ricciardo said. “I feel like they’ve got enough now to cover it.”
