Stewards confirm official Ricciardo verdict after MASSIVE Japanese GP shunt

Formula 1's stewards have released their official verdict into an investigation of the lap one crash between Daniel Ricciardo and Alex Albon.

Within a matter of three corners, both drivers saw their grand prix hopes ruined after an unfortunate incident.

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The incident occurred when Ricciardo tagged Albon's car as the Williams tried to pull-up alongside him. They both spun off-track and ended up on the grass.

After the race, Ricciardo told Sky Sports: “I don’t even know if he wanted to be there, but his traction was so much better on the soft that he was like, well, there’s space, until there wasn’t.

“So I didn’t see him but honestly, I always assume maybe someone is there. It’s lap one, so I never tried to use the full width of the track and be completely ignorant. But yeah, I guess there was obviously not enough room."

Was anyone found at fault for the crash?

Now, the race stewards have announced that the crash will be recorded as a 'lap-one incident' – though they said that had it occurred on a different lap, their decision would have been different.

In their published judgment, the stewards said: "The Stewards heard from the driver of Car 3 (Daniel Ricciardo), the driver of Car 23 (Alexander Albon), team representatives and reviewed positioning/marshalling system data, external and in-car video evidence.

"The explanations of both drivers were aligned as to the facts of the incident. On the approach to Turn 3, the driver of Car 3 noticed Car 18 on his left and stated that he wanted to give that car sufficient room.

"He stated he then looked to the apex of Turn 3. He did not see Car 23 on his right. The driver of Car 23 stated that he thought he could overtake Car 3 on the outside, into Turn 3, but then suddenly realised that Car 3 had not seen him, applied the brakes but could not avoid the contact with Car 3."

The stewards added that no further action would be taken, explaining: "Accordingly we determine this to be a first lap incident and decide to take no further action.

"If this incident had occurred on a subsequent lap, or without the presence of the third car (Car 18), a different determination would have been made."

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