Lance Stroll , the Aston Martin F1 driver, has come under massive criticism for his crash with Daniel Ricciardo at the 2024 Chinese GP. Several pundits have already given their take on the duo’s lap 26 incident.
The latest to join the Lance Stroll – Daniel Ricciardo bandwagon is the Haas F1 driver, Nico Hulkenberg. The German believes the former was not to blame for the incident as in his opinion, Stroll was caught off guard.
Hulkenberg was in close vicinity when Stroll hit Ricciardo’s VCARB 01 from behind.
It was pretty spectacular going into Turn 14. All I saw was Lance not really slowing down and he really lifted up Daniel and I went around the corner and I didn't see them anymore. I think maybe Lance got caught off guard a bit, it happens. This concertina effect is quite big, and I think especially on safety car restarts, and maybe he had cold brakes and didn't have full stopping power. Nico Hulkenberg said in an interview with racingnews365
The Haas driver has given an in-detail view of the whole saga with Stroll and Ricciardo. He has made it known that the Candian was caught off guard during the incident and has deemed it as something that happens during high-intensity Grand Prix events.
Nico Hulkenberg pleased with his ‘recovery’ drive at the Chinese GP
While the immensely experienced German racer has defended Stroll for his actions, he himself had quite a fascinating three-day weekend during the Chinese GP. Moreover, at the end of it all, he was a bit pleased with scoring a point.
Hulkenberg managed a P10 finish at the end of the 56-lap Chinese GP.
Especially after how it went [on Friday and Saturday], it was pretty poor and it was a very good reaction and recovery. One point was all that was available obviously with one of the [cars] from the top five teams not being where it should, and that is all there is at the moment. Nico Hulkenberg said in the same interview
The ongoing campaign is five rounds down and Haas is involved in a fierce rivalry with RB for the sixth place in the Constructors Championship. As things stand, the latter has so far managed seven points whereas Hulkenberg and Co. are currently on five. In the upcoming rounds, Haas will target getting ahead of their Faenza-based rivals.
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