Stroll looking to ‘reset’ after Saudi Arabian GP blunder

Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll says he’ll “reset” ahead of next week’s Australian GP following his crash and early exit from last weekend’s Saudi Arabian GP.

Stroll’s race in Jeddah was cut short after just five laps by a self-inflicted wound when the Canadian – who was running ninth – clipped the inside wall at Turn 23 and crashed heavily into the barriers on the opposite side of the track.

Stroll’s race engineer inquired on his status and asked him if he could make it back to the pits, to which the Aston driver offered a rather sullen – and unnecessary – "No... I'm in the f****** wall!"

An apology would have certainly been better received by the team, but the grumpy back talk was also a heat of the moment reply.

"A disappointing way to conclude a good weekend,” a cooled down Stroll later reflected.

“I’d been pushing really hard in those opening laps – the cars around us were definitely faster and the tyres were already struggling.

“I was trying to build a gap and just clipped the wall.

• Read also: F1i's Driver Ratings for the 2024 Saudi Arabian GP

Looking ahead, Stroll added that he would “reset and go to Australia”.

"There are positives to take away, the team has scored points in both races and we feel there’s more pace to unlock in the car,” he said.

“I’m already looking ahead to Australia – it’s a race and a country that I really enjoy and I’m sure we can pick up the momentum again.”

Aston team boss Mike Krack said that Stroll’s mishap was a reminder of Jeddah’s “unforgiving” nature.

“Unfortunately, a small mistake from Lance came with a high price,” he commented. “This is an unforgiving street circuit and all that matters in such situations is Lance is OK.

“Both drivers were under a lot of pressure at the start and had to push very hard for position.”

After qualifying an excellent fourth on Friday, Fernado Alonso was able to claim fifth and add 10 points to his team’s championship tally.

"I'm very happy with finishing fifth,” Alonso said. “I think finishing in front of one McLaren, one Ferrari and both Mercedes is a great result for the team and probably around the maximum we can achieve at the moment.

"It was intense from start to finish and I had George [Russell] so close behind for most of the race.

“We went into the unknown a little bit with over 40 laps on the Hard set of tyres but we managed it all well and were able to make the one-stop strategy work.

“We will keep chasing for more performance and focus on the long term as it's a very long season ahead."

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