Stroll tears into stewards after ‘funny decisions’ at 2022 Australian Grand Prix

Lance Stroll was twice punished by the stewards during the 2022 Australian Grand Prix weekend.

Aston Martin F1 driver Lance Stroll is unsure why he was penalised for the defence of his position from Valtteri Bottas during the Australian Grand Prix.

It was an eventful weekend for the Canadian. He crashed during the final practice session along with team-mate Sebastian Vettel and, after a remarkable repair job by his crew, he went out and crashed again during qualifying, coming together with Nicholas Latifi.

He was subsequently given a grid penalty and two points on his license, putting him onto seven points, and he fell foul of the stewards’ wrath again during the race.

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He was caught weaving on the straight as he tried to fend off Bottas into Turn One, earning himself a five-second penalty, which realistically eliminated any chance he had of scoring points.

The Finn said after the race that the manoeuvre was “on the limit,” and he also felt slightly aggrieved when Stroll passed him on the Virtual Safety Car restart following Max Verstappen’s retirement.

With an aggressive and opportunistic move into Turn Three, Stroll muscled his way past the 32-year-old.

The stewards deemed it firm but fair racing, but the Alfa Romeo driver emphasised “I don’t think that’s how you should race.”

Stroll appeared bewildered to be the recipient of a penalty for weaving, as he did not feel it was any more forceful than we have seen from anyone else. 

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“We see guys weaving all the time,” he told The Race.

“It’s just the last move, really. You can weave down the straight as long as you don’t weave when the guy’s approaching very close behind you. I’m weaving to break the slipstream, not to try and defend, and then they penalised me for it.

“There’s a lot of funny decisions going on right now.”

The 24-year-old reinforced his belief later on in the media pen that he was harshly treated by the stewards on Sunday.

“I overtook him and then I was a bit surprised that I got a penalty,” he stated.

Irrespective of the penalty, Stroll came home to finish outside the points in P12, and he concedes that the troublesome Aston Martin car does not currently have the capacity to score points on merit.

“We tried to pick up a point, didn’t really have the pace, but it was a good effort,” he added.

READ: Disappointed Sainz takes responsibility for torrid Australian GP

“We’re just not quick enough so we’ve got to find some more [pace].”

Following Alex Albon’s 10th-placed finish in Melbourne, Aston Martin are now the only team on the grid yet to score points in 2022.