Lance Stroll had a race to forget after clashing with Fernando Alonso during the Japanese Grand Prix and finishing in seventeenth place.
The Williams Martini Racing driver started from fourteenth on the grid but lost out to Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hülkenberg whilst also clashing with Alonso on the opening lap.
Stewards looked in to the incident and deemed the Canadian to be at fault, giving him a five second penalty for his part in the accident.
Talking after the race Stroll explained the incident, “With Fernando, I just went around the outside of 130R, I got on the grass and then back on the racing line, we made some contact and then he just went straight on, so we both got penalties.
“It was just a typical first lap racing incident when things get heated.” said Stroll, who would go on to apologise to the Spaniard, “I just wanted to say to him I didn’t push him intentionally or anything like that.”
Following pitstops and penalties Stroll dropped to the back of the pack and despite fighting back mid-race, would ultimately finish the race in last place.
“After that, the race was quite bad. Nothing went our way today, as races go, it was just a really bad one.” he summarised.
