Lance Stroll believes he left Fernando Alonso "plenty of room" in their Formula 1 United States Grand Prix collision. On Lap 22 at Austin, after the race resumed following a Safety Car for Valtteri Bottas spinning off, Alonso was tucked up behind Stroll's Aston Martin on the back-straight, and in the slipstream. Stroll jinked to the left to defend, but Alonso could not react in time and rammed the rear of the Canadian, sending him spinning across the track and in front of the oncoming cars behind, while Alonso went airborne before hitting the barrier. While Stroll retired, Alonso recovered to finish seventh, but after the incident, Stroll felt he had done nothing wrong, although he was later hit with a grid penalty and penalty points by the stewards for the incident.
Stroll on Alonso crash
It was non-points score for Stroll - on a weekend both he and the Aston Martin were extremely competitive - as he ran as high as third in the early laps, with teammate Sebastian Vettel leading for two laps late on. "I mean, I definitely moved late, but there was a big difference in speed," Stroll told media including RacingNews365.com when asked about the incident. "I was judging more or less, kind of picking where he was behind me. "But it's not like I hit him on the side of his car. The impact is still his front wing to the rear of my car. "I gave him plenty of room on the left of the track, so it's not like I squeezed him or anything like that against a wall. "He could have moved earlier and went more to the left. He didn't have to get so close to me either. "So, there's a lot of different ways you could look at the incident. "It was a shame. It was close wheel to wheel racing and unfortunately, we just made contact."
Nothing lasting for future teammates
Alonso is set to join Stroll at Aston Martin next term to replace the retiring Vettel, but the Canadian is clear that the incident will not impact their relationship. "We're racing drivers - it can happen in a race," he said. Stroll is 15th in the Drivers' championship with Vettel banking four points for eighth after a late charge following a slow pitstop. The team are seventh in the Constructors' - three points behind Alfa Romeo on 49.
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