Lance Stroll admitted it was disappointing not to score at least a point in Sunday’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, with the Canadian losing out late in the day to Lando Norris for tenth position.
The Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team driver had lost ground ahead of the first red flag after being one of those to make a pit stop, but he made some places on both restarts to run inside the points.
However, it was not to be for Stroll as Norris was able to find a way passed to secure the final point on offer, with Aston Martin leaving Saudi Arabia without a point.
“It was a shame not to get points, especially because we came so close in the end in P11,” said Stroll. “The first red flag went against us because we had pitted earlier, but we were able to make a couple of very good restarts following the stoppages to climb to P10.
“We initially pulled a good gap to [Lando] Norris behind, but overtaking proved easier than expected and we just lacked a little bit of pace on the straights, so we could not hold onto P10.
“I was optimistic because the balance of the car felt good, but P11 was probably the maximum in the end.”
“A tough way to end the race” – Sebastian Vettel
Team-mate Sebastian Vettel was forced to retire with damage to the floor of his car after a difficult race for the German, which included collisions with both Yuki Tsunoda and Kimi Räikkönen.
After being in contention for a top ten finish, the first collision with Tsunoda dropped him out of points contention, while the later clash with Räikkönen left him with even more damage, which ultimately left him no option but to retire.
“A tough way to end the race [with significant floor damage] and a shame we lost the chance to fight for points properly,” said Vettel. “Things were going our way in the early part of the race.
“Having started in P17, we were up inside the points after the restarts. I was running ahead of the Ferraris, but we did not have the strongest pace today and we were under pressure. Yuki [Tsunoda] hit me in the first chicane, which dropped me down the pack.
“Then there was the incident with Kimi [Räikkönen], which completely destroyed my race [with the damage caused]. I had the track position and there is not enough room for two cars in that corner so I think Kimi needed to back out.”
