Stroll crashes out
MONTREAL — Gone in 38 seconds. That was the story for Montreal driver Lance Stroll at Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix.
Stroll’s Williams car and the Red Bull driven by Brendon Hartley were sideby-side going into Turn 5 on the first lap. That’s when Stroll appeared to oversteer and lose the back end of his car before making contact with Hartley and driving the Red Bull hard into the wall. Stroll also hit the wall, blowing out his front left tire. Hartley’s car — which was already in pieces — then bounced across the track and smashed into Stroll’s car, driving it into the wall on the other side of the track.
The race was over for both drivers. After the crash, Hartley sat in his car shaking his head and Stroll turned his head toward the Red Bull driver while walking past him and appeared to say something before being led off by a track marshal.
Fans sitting in grandstands further along the track ready to cheer on the hometown boy never got a chance to see Stroll drive past them once in the race. Last year, the 19-year-old finished ninth as a rookie to earn the first two points of his F1 career.
“Of course I would have liked to put on a good show for the fans,” said Stroll, who started in 16th spot and had moved up one place before crashing. “At least I had a good start. I hope they might have enjoyed that. … But that’s the nature of the sport. We can’t pick and choose where our results come. I had a great race here last year, not a good one this year.”