Advertisement

Lance Stroll under fire over 'dreadful' incident at US Grand Prix

chris young
Sports Reporter
·4-min read
Lance Stroll's collision with Fernando Alonso is circled on the left, with Stroll pictured on the right.
Lance Stroll's collision with Fernando Alonso left F1 fans up in arms and the Aston Martin with a destroyed car at the US Grand Prix. Pictures: Sky Sports/Getty Images

Lance Stroll has walked away from a nasty crash involving himself and future F1 teammate Fernando Alonso as the F1 world reacted to the carnage at the United States GP.

The Aston Martin driver was defending against Alonso at the US GP, when he seemingly jinked his car slight to the left when Alonso pulled out from the slipstream at high speed.

HUGE: Daniel Ricciardo linked with bombshell move back to former F1 team

PRESSURE ON: Red Bull 'cheating' claims emerge in twist to F1 drama

Upon impact the nose of Alonso's car was lifted high into the air before crashing back down onto the circuit - though miraculously, his Alpine was still in racing condition after a short pitstop for repairs.

The same could not be said for Stroll's Aston Martin, which lay destroyed on the Circuit of the Americas track.

The lap 22 incident brought out the safety car to remove the wreckage of Stroll's machine, as well as a significant amount of debris from the circuit.

The field had already been bunched up, as the safety car had returned to the pits a lap earlier after Alfa Romeo's Valtteri Bottas got beached in the gravel trap.

Fans were far from impressed with Stroll's driving, an infraction made all the more awkward with Alonso set to become his teammate next season.

Fortunately for Alonso, the damage didn't seem too bad - ultimately making his way through to a seventh-place finish despite the heavy contact.

There would be ongoing ramifications for Stroll's error, with The Race's Scott Mitchell-Malm pointing out that the error cost Aston Martin a significant points haul.

"Stroll’s error is hugely costly for Aston Martin because the team was on course for a massive points haul that would have pushed it to sixth in the championship," he wrote during the race.

Max Verstappen wins US Grand Prix after thrilling battle with Lewis Hamilton

Max Verstappen crossed the line first, cementing the constructor's championship for Red Bull after securing the drivers' championship for himself last time out at the Japanese GP.

He was made to work hard for his victory though, having to fight Mercedes rival Lewis Hamilton for the lead after a slow stop during the final round of pitstops.

Hopes were high for Mercedes as Hamilton showed blinding pace during the middle of the race, and put up a remarkable defence of the lead before the Dutch driver eased his way past with only a handful of laps left to run.

Meanwhile, a disastrous race for Aston Martin only got worse when a slow pitstop for Sebastian Vettel saw him drop from the lead of the race all the way back to 13th place.

Incredibly, the four-time world champion summoned his best, passing Haas driver Kevin Magnussen on the final lap to finish eighth.

It had been a difficult race for Ferrari, with the pole-sitter Carlos Sainz out of the race at the first corner after a tangle with Mercedes' George Russell.

His teammate Charles Leclerc had qualified second, but was forced to take a grid penalty for mechanical reasons.

It was another tough outing for Daniel Ricciardo, who never looked near the top 10 as he came home to finish in a lowly 16th place, while teammate Lando Norris finished in the top 10.

Click here to sign up to our newsletter for all the latest and breaking stories from Australia and around the world.