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.

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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.”

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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.