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

Former F1 team boss says online trolls can 'f*** off'

• 35 minutes ago

Max Verstappen jets in to Red Bull UK base with F1 future still in doubt

• 1 hour ago

Sky F1 star opens up about 'horrific' hate she received for Max Verstappen question

• 2 hours ago

Lewis Hamilton win was almost perfect but F1 legend does want one more Ferrari change

• 3 hours ago

Carlos Sainz proposes radical new F1 season format

• Today 16:57

Aston Martin praise 'very good' pit stop at Barcelona Grand Prix

• Today 15:53