Ricciardo: No point in clearing air unless Stroll accepts blame
03/05/2024 10:37
Daniel Ricciardo was expecting a 'clear the air' talk with Lance Stroll after the latter's clumsy collision with the Aussie in China, but the situation remains unresolved much to the Aussie's disappointment.
Ricciardo's chance of scoring his first points of the season with RB was abruptly dashed when an inattentive Stroll rear-ended his car under the safety car regime.
This incident not only ruined Ricciardo's race but also sparked outrage, particularly because Stroll deflected responsibility and placed the blame on the drivers ahead.
In Miami, two weeks after the Aston Martin driver's blunder, Ricciardo revealed that there had been no communication between the two drivers, let alone an apology from Stroll.
The RB charger admitted that attempting a conversation would be pointless unless Stroll acknowledges his role in the collision and expresses genuine remorse.
"I would say no, because I feel it's not going to go anywhere," Ricciardo said when asked if he would engage with Stroll.
"I can accept an apology, I'm not that much of an asshole. But the fact that there's not even that... He clearly doesn't think he did anything wrong. So I guess there's not much to say.
"Obviously, if we sit next to each other in the drivers' briefing and he wants to chat, I'm not going to ignore him or anything."
Ricciardo said that during his career, he's always made it a point of seeking resolution with other drivers after racing incidents, even if he wasn't entirely convinced he was at fault, a proactive approach that served to diffuse any lingering tensions.
"When I was younger, maybe I was more stubborn, didn't always apologise for something that was my fault," he said.
"But the last few years, if I take someone out or even if it's 50/50, I'll still say: 'Look, maybe I could have done better, so sorry for ruining our day.' I'll just text them, clear the air a little bit.
"We're all rivals, but you don't want to have a target and you don't need enemies. I'm not going as far as saying he is an enemy or anything. It's an incident and we'll move on.
"But you don't obviously want to get what you're giving. In that position, if I didn't see him in person I would at least say: 'Hey man sorry, I was looking somewhere else, or you braked really hard and caught me off guard.' Whatever, just something.
"But yeah, it's fine. Obviously we're talking about it, but I have certainly moved on."
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