Stroll berates "very sloppy" Leclerc, "ridiculous" he avoided penalty

Lance Stroll has berated Charles Leclerc as "very sloppy" following the collision that took the Racing Point driver out of the Russian Grand Prix.

Stroll was tagged by the Ferrari driver early on the opening lap at the Sochi Autodrom, sending him spinning into a wall and a second consecutive retirement after crashing out at Mugello due to a puncture sustained in the Tuscan Grand Prix.

An unhappy Stroll said: "I got clipped by Leclerc. Very sloppy from his part. I gave him all the room. I was on the outside of the corner and he just clipped my right-rear tyre.

"I gave him all the room I could. It was unlucky but he could’ve avoided it. He didn’t have to run so wide into me."

Asked whether he was surprised Stroll failed to receive a penalty from the stewards for the incident, he added: "I'm quite surprised. It was avoidable from his end. It’s kind of ridiculous he didn’t get a penalty."

Responding to the criticism, Leclerc offered no apology. He said: "I tried to go up the inside of Lance in turn four.

"And then in the middle of the corner [Sergio] Perez took the apex, and when I was behind him I understeered quite a bit, and then we made contact with Lance."

After watching team-mate Perez claim fourth, Stroll was naturally annoyed as he felt he could have achieved a strong result.

"I think a lot was possible," added Stroll. "I think we were seventh at that point. I had a great start, we were on a good tyre. So it was a real shame."

Before you go...

Wolff slates "far-fetched" Hamilton penalty

Bottas after Russian GP win: 'To my critics, f**k you!'

Related

More F1 news

Latest F1 news

Max Verstappen makes decision on racing series switch despite success of father Jos

• 43 minutes ago

F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix weather forecast - latest from Baku

• 2 hours ago

F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix schedule and times as race moved forward

• Today 13:45

F1 2027 Grid with seven seats still open and one massive question mark

• Today 12:27

Red Bull announce driver change for F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix

• Today 10:57

Baffling Max Verstappen F1 issue cannot be fixed admit Red Bull

• Today 09:45