Charles Leclerc was left to reflect on a "worst start to the season" after tangling with Aston Martin's Lance Stroll on the opening lap of the Australian GP. Following an unsatisfactory qualifying session, the Ferrari driver was targeting progress from P7 on the grid, but wound up making contact with Stroll. Last season's championship runner-up found himself on the outside line for Turn 3 and attempting to overtake Stroll. However, his right-rear wheel made contact with the front-left of Stroll's car, which sent the Ferrari into the gravel trap. When asked how he was feeling after the race, Leclerc gave a downbeat response to media: "Frustrated, obviously it's the worst ever start of the season. Only six points or eight points in total, it's frustrating."
Leclerc puts no blame on Stroll
The Ferrari driver appeared to initially blame Stroll for the lap 1 tangle on team radio, but commented after the race that he believed the collision to be a "racing incident". "In Turn 3, I honestly wasn't really planning to do any overtakes there, but Lance had to brake quite early or slow down the car a lot while braking, because Fernando had to [slow down] because of the cars in front," Leclerc explained to media, including RacingNews365.com . "I saw that there was a gap on the outside, I went for it, but unfortunately Fernando had to slow the car down even more towards the end of braking, and Lance found himself between Fernando and myself and we had contact. "I'm obviously not blaming it on Lance. I think it's a racing incident, but it's just very frustrating because the end result is that I'm going home with no points."
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