“What the f*** is this **** doing?!” – Lance Stroll baffled Lando Norris by colliding with him and violating track limits and received three penalty points for his troubles.
Racing Point’s Lance Stroll had a torrid Portuguese Grand Prix at Portimao as he was the only driver with a DNF. That also meant he is no more in the Top 10 of the Drivers’ Standings, with Carlos Sainz and Pierre Gasly overtaking him. Stroll has 57 points, compared to his teammate Sergio Perez’s 74 points, who had a brilliant race to finish P7.
If that was not bad enough, Stroll was also handed three penalty points by the stewards. Two penalty points were for colliding with Lando Norris, the latter letting his feelings known on the McLaren team radio:
“What the f**k is this **** doing?!”
The third penalty point was for repeatedly violating the track limits on the Portimao circuit. He also earned two five-second time penalties for his efforts. The stewards put out an official statement explaining the penalties awarded to the Racing Point driver.
“Stroll made a late move around Norris at the end of the main straight. He then drove straight towards the apex of turn one while Norris was still partially alongside.
“Norris moved as far to the apex as he could just avoiding the aggressive sausage [kerb] on the inside, and thus did everything he could to avoid the collision. The stewards determined that Stroll was predominantly at fault for the collision.”
Lando Norris to stay away from Lance Stroll henceforth
Post-race, Norris was asked about the incident with Stroll, and fair to say, Norris did not hold back. He asserted Stroll could have easily avoided the collision, which also had consequences for Norris, as he finished outside the points. Fed up with Stroll’s constant misdemeanors, Norris has vowed to “stay away (from Stroll) next time.”
“I don’t know what Lance was doing really. He went to the left – I didn’t know where he was really – which I was very surprised by when he very easily could have gone to the inside.
“But he obviously doesn’t seem to learn from anything he does. It happens a lot with him so I just need to make sure I stay away next time.”
Romain Grosjean and Daniil Kvyat also given penalty points
Haas’ Romain Grosjean and AlphaTauri’s Daniil Kvyat were also handed over one penalty point and a five-second time penalty. The reason stated for this was for “leaving the track on multiple occasions” without a justifiable reason.
Daniil Kvyat now has five penalty points, Lance Stroll three, and Romain Grosjean one.
