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

Ian Parkes
Sunday 27 September 2020 16:53

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."

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