Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo’s promising weekend in China was derailed by rival Lance Stroll when the Canadian crashed into him during Sunday’s Chinese Grand Prix.
World champion Max Verstappen held his own in Shanghai, surviving two safety car restarts to beat McLaren’s Lando Norris into second and Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez into third.
Ricciardo, driving for Red Bull’s sister team RB, was running ninth when Stroll picked him up on lap 26 as the field prepared to restart after the first of two safety cars on Sunday.
As the cars in the midfield entered the penultimate corner, a hairpin, preparing to race, Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso slammed on the brakes to take the bend.
This caused a concertina effect that caused the cars behind, including Ricciardo, to brake quickly.
But Stroll, who was tenth, saw too late that the cars ahead were braking and crashed into the rear of Ricciardo.
Stroll received a 10-second penalty, despite complaining on the radio to his team about colliding with Ricciardo, while the Australian was forced to retire due to damage to his car.
The images were shown to the podium finalists as they waited for the trophy to be presented.
“My God, no way,” Verstappen said as he covered his mouth in disbelief.
Fellow Australian Oscar Piastri was also injured in the collision, and Ricciardo was forced to go to the rear of the McLaren.
Piastri was able to retain eighth place, while his teammate achieved an impressive second place.
Verstappen achieves another victory
Max Verstappen took four wins in the first five races of this season, winning his first Chinese Grand Prix.
The Dutchman had a huge lead, with team-mate Sergio Perez comfortably in second, when a pair of safety cars forced the team to make a pit stop earlier than they had planned.
The first stops kept Verstappen in the lead, but Pérez dropped to fourth place, and the Mexican could only climb back to third place.
“It was incredible, it was so much fun to drive in each of the [tyre] compound,” he said.
“The car was on rails, I could do whatever I wanted with it.”
The victory completed a stellar weekend for the Dutchman, who also won Saturday’s sprint race.
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