F1 Spanish GP: Hamilton wins, Stroll DNF after contact with McLaren driver Norris
HAMILTON HAD A BETTER START THAN BOTTAS AND AHEAD BY CORNER ONE; ANOTHER RACE TO FORGET FOR STROLL
Off the start, Hamilton was slightly ahead of Bottas who was keeping an eye on Vettel coming from his left side approaching corner one.
Lance Stroll gained three places early an was behind teammate Perez who was in 13th. After their pit stops on lap 24 and 27 respectively, they rejoined in 16th(Perez) and 17th(Stroll).
Then, on lap 46, Lando Norris came almost alongside the SportPesa Racing Point F1 of Lance Stroll at the end of the front straight. Not alongside enough to have the advantage on Stroll going into corner 1 with only his front wheels at the height on Stroll’s rear wheels. As Stroll switch from exiting corner one towards corner two, Norris was still by the rear wheel of the Racing Point and contact could not be avoided. It sent Stroll into a spin and ended up in the gravel. And that was the end of his race.
Speaking about the event that occurs, Stroll said: “I haven’t seen the replay of the incident with Lando yet, so I need to have a look at it in detail first. I braked on the inside while he was on the outside and then I had to turn in to make the left hand corner. Unfortunately there is not enough space for two cars and there was not much I could do. I felt contact on my rear and I was sent into the gravel. It was a tough weekend for the team so we just need to put it behind us and focus on bouncing back in Monaco.”
Sergio Perez(15th) had an uneventful race and already looking ahead to Monaco: “It was a tough weekend, all in all. Considering where we qualified it was always going to be a difficult race because overtaking is tricky here and we have struggled for pace. It’s a weekend to forget – but we are staying here for some testing next week, so hopefully we can analyse what we can do better for the coming races. Right now, I’m just looking forward to Monaco and a chance to put this one behind us.”
So the top 5 at the checkered flag were Lewis Hamilton followed by Bottas, Verstappen, Vettel and Leclerc.
Image: Racing Point F1
