Stroll's Turkish GP thwarted by inexplicable tyre 'graining'

Lance Stroll cast a disappointed figure after Sunday's Turkey GP, a race the Racing Point driver led for the better part of 35 laps, until a switch to the intermediate tyre hindered his efforts.

Starting on Pirelli's wet tyres, Stroll enjoyed a perfect launch off the grid from pole and quickly carved out a comfortable lead over teammate Sergio Perez.

But a switch to Pirelli's inters left the Canadian engulfed in the mid-field, where inexplicable graining crippled his pace.

Unfortunately, a second stop and another set of inters failed to improve Stroll's predicament, the young charger crossing the checkered a distant ninth, while Perez sailed on to second having stopped only once.

"I don’t know what happened," said a frustrated Stroll. "I don’t understand.

"We had so much graining on the first set of intermediates, we decided to pit, we were losing seconds a lap. And I don’t know where that graining came, it just happened instantly.

"We started the race on full wets and then I put an inter on and I was quite far up the road. It grained again, massive graining and no pace. So we have to look into it, it’s pretty terrible today."

• Read also: Hamilton seals seventh title with wet and wild Turkey GP win

Stroll's early flawless charge had allowed the #18 Racing Point to lead the field by over 10 seconds at one point. But the end result was obviously a big disappointment for the Turkish GP poleman.

"It’s frustrating when you’re in the lead by 10 seconds and all of a sudden you finish ninth,” he admitted. “I don’t understand how that happens.

"I mean I do, it’s graining, but we just need to look into why it hit me so much harder than the other car. I’m not sure why."

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