Italian GP race a tough pill to swallow for Lance Stroll
“WE SHOULD HAVE SCORED POINTS TODAY.” LANCE STROLL
In the most bizarre scene witnessed as of late in F1 yesterday in Q3 where Lance Stroll had a good chance at maximizing his starting position for the race and where eight of the nine cars were denied their last lap effort as they crossed the start line when the clock had run out, Lance Stroll started today’s race in ninth place.
With the aggressiveness he has shown on race start this year, Stroll gained a couple of places on the start and was keeping up with the cars ahead.
Unfortunately a spinning Sebastian Vettel interrupted his race as Vettel tried to get back on-track in an unsafe manner and as rejoined the track was in the path of Stroll who could not avoid the contact. That sent Stroll into a spin as well. Then it was Stroll who rejoined the track in an unsafe manner in front of Pierre Gasly.
“That’s a tough one to take. We should have scored good points today. It all went wrong when Vettel came back on the track very aggressively and hit me. I’m quite upset with him for what happened. I tried to avoid him by going to the left but he just kept moving forward and eventually we made contact: I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. I did everything I could to avoid him and I was even cautious with the yellow flag. I lifted off and he just came back on at Ascari and there was really nothing I could do, even at the speed I was going. He clipped me, I spun and then I was pointing the wrong way. When I was coming back onto the circuit myself, I got penalised for no fault of my own. It’s just a disaster really. I couldn’t see Pierre: I was just trying to get off the racing line and away from the dangerous position Vettel forced me into. We were looking pretty strong in seventh, with a decent gap to eighth, pulling away from the McLaren, and keeping the Renaults in sight. It was looking like a pretty smooth race from there, but it just goes to show how quickly things can turn around. There’s a lot of racing left this year and more improvements to come. This one is going to sting for a day or two. I think there were a lot of points up for grabs, but that’s racing,” commented Stroll.
Stroll ended the Grand Prix in 12th position, a lap down to eventual winner Charles Leclerc.
A couple of weeks off as teams will be traveling to Singapore for the next GP on September 20-22.
Image: Racing Point F1
