Penalty-hit Stroll reflects on ‘tricky’ end to Russian GP after contact with team mate Vettel and Gasly

The Aston Martin team came away from the Sochi Autodrom point-less, with Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll making contact in the final stages of the Russian Grand Prix, with Stroll also handed a penalty for contact with AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly.

Stroll had secured his best starting position of the year in qualifying, starting the Russian Grand Prix P7 – while a lightning-fast getaway from the Canadian then saw him climb to fourth on the first lap.

But Stroll’s race then came unstuck in its latter stages as, with rain starting to fall on the Sochi Autodrom, he inadvertently squeezed team mate Vettel into the wall – while later, after recovering onto the track following a slide into the barriers, he then collected Gasly, receiving a 10-second penalty that ultimately wouldn’t change his finishing position of P11.

“It was tricky – a shame we didn’t pick up points,” said Stroll on Sunday evening. “It became very slippery out there and I did not see Sebastian alongside me. We will learn from today and move on to Turkey in a few weeks’ time.”

Speaking of his incident with Stroll, Gasly told the media after the race: “I think he went in the wall and then came back [on the track], and then at Turn 8, clipped my rear wheel. I haven’t seen the footage but he just turned and then suddenly just touched me and then I basically spun the car.”

Despite the contact from his own Aston Martin team mate, meanwhile, Vettel appeared to not hold any grudges against Stroll after the race – which saw the German driver finish P12 – saying: “I guess it was a misunderstanding, I’m not sure. I don’t think he saw me – maybe he didn’t expect me either.

“Fortunately nothing happened, but unfortunately, we both are out of the points after the end,” added Vettel.

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Penalty-hit Stroll reflects on ‘tricky’ end to Russian GP after contact with team mate Vettel and Gasly

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