Krack stunned by ‘very harsh’ Stroll penalty

Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack was shocked by Lance Stroll’s “very harsh” 10-second time penalty for driving into the back of Daniel Ricciardo during the Chinese Grand Prix, venting his frustration at the lack of consistency by the stewards.

Stroll received a 10-second time penalty and two penalty points for driving into the back of Ricciardo mid-race whilst a safety car period was about to end.

Ricciardo retired as a result of the damage the incident caused, which was effectively a concertina effect of Fernando Alonso locking up at Turn 14. Stroll was furious to be penalised, in what was the latest incident involving an Aston Martin.

Alonso received a 10-second time penalty and three penalty points in Saturday’s sprint race after being judged to have “caused a collision”, with Krack questioning how hard the stewards have been on the Silverstone-based squad.

“The stewards have been tough on Lance and Fernando recently,” Krack told media including RacingNews365.

“This weekend as well. We had it in the sprint race, we had it in Melbourne, we had with Lance, a very, very quick verdict today without really understanding. I thought it was very, very fast and very harsh, a very quick decision. This is how it is.”

Focusing on Stroll’s incident, the pack bunched up at the Turn 14 hairpin when Max Verstappen was about to restart the race, following a safety car period to recover Valtteri Bottas’ car.

Krack believes several drivers were “caught out” by Alonso locking up and that Stroll was quickly labelled at fault, with Aston Martin having minimal time to contest the decision.

“I think it was a chain reaction,” explained Krack. “At the end of the day, you saw Fernando locking up and another car behind, I think everybody was a little bit caught out there.

“At that stage, we were happy that we did not lose both cars because I think it started further to the front.

“I would have liked it if it was looked at in a little bit more detailed way. We tried to discuss it but the verdict was very quickly that Lance was to blame, and he got a 10-second penalty, additionally to the front-wing damage.”

The latest penalty to impact Aston Martin has frustrated Krack who questioned the consistency of the stewards after the race, following a question from RacingNews365.

Krack argued that some incidents similar to Stroll’s have gone unpunished this year, leaving the British team to argue that there is no consistent decisions being made.

“Yeah, I mean, you can see it as you want,” added Krack. “Last time it was the car in front that got the penalty in Melbourne, you remember even without touching this time, it was the car behind.

“I mean, you see, for example, like Lance can spin around in Bahrain on lap one, has to come back through the field, there’s no penalty for the one who caused the collision. So again, we’re not super consistent. That’s the feeling.”

Despite questioning the stewards consistency, Krack recognises that they are just “human” at the end of the day, and that the way to avoid being at risk of a penalty is simply to be clear of the field like Verstappen.

“It is frustrating,” conceded Krack. “On the other hand, everybody’s human.

“I think everybody tries to do their best, and it is frustrating, but the the best recipe is if you have a fast car and you drive away, Max has no such penalties. So it’s up to us to make it happen.”