Recently, the Monaco Grand Prix has started to resemble more of a parade than a race. The combination of large Formula 1 cars and the narrow circuits makes overtaking nearly impossible. As a result, the qualifying session on Saturday becomes the most crucial of the year. If you aim to win at Monaco, getting a good starting position is essential.
Unfortunately for Lance Stroll, he finds himself starting below P2 after receiving a grid penalty due to an incident during FP1 on Friday.
Early in the session, as Stroll approached the hairpin corner, the Aston Martin driver rejoined the racing line while a faster car was right beside him.
That faster car was Charles Leclerc, who was on a quick lap.
Leclerc ended up behind Stroll’s AMR25, and the ensuing collision resulted in a red flag, damaging both vehicles. You can check out the incident here:
Following the practice session, race officials spoke with both Leclerc and Stroll, as well as team representatives. Stroll relayed that Aston Martin team members had warned him about Leclerc’s approach, but he hadn’t caught the radio message.
“The driver of car 18 was advised about the arrival of car 16, but he didn’t hear the radio message, which contributed to the incident. We initially thought car 18 was at fault for the collision, as car 16 had no opportunity to avoid it,” noted the officials.
As a result, authorities handed Stroll a one-position grid penalty along with a penalty point for his FIA Super License.
“In this situation, we imposed a grid position penalty and a penalty point,” explained the officials.
This brings Stroll’s penalty points to three. If a driver accumulates 12 penalty points within a calendar year, they risk being banned from one race.
