Lance Stroll has been given a one-place grid penalty following his collision with Charles Leclerc during Friday’s first practice session for the Monaco Grand Prix.
Stroll and Leclerc clashed in unusual fashion in the early stages of FP1 when the Aston Martin driver came back onto the racing line under braking for the hairpin after moving over for another car.
Leclerc ran into the back of Stroll’s car and damaged his front wing, triggering a red flag, while the Canadian missed the rest of the session due to broken rear suspension and a gearbox change.
Following a review of the incident, the stewards determined that Stroll was “wholly to blame” and thus handed out a one-place grid drop, which will apply for Sunday’s race in the Principality.
2025 Monaco GP FP1: Leclerc runs into the back of Stroll’s Aston Martin in first practice
“The stewards determined that Car 18 (Stroll) cut across the path of Car 16 (Leclerc) at Turn 6, causing Car 16 to collide into Car 18,” read the decision document. “Car 16 suffered damage as a result.
“The driver of Car 18 stated that although the team warned him of the arrival of Car 16, he did not hear the radio message and that led to the incident.
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“We considered that Car 18 was wholly to blame for the collision. Car 16 was not in a position to avoid the collision that took place.
“In the circumstances, we imposed a one grid position penalty for the race and one penalty point (on Stroll’s licence).”
Lance Stroll has been hit with a one-place grid penalty for the Monaco Grand Prix
Asked about the incident in the Team Principal’s Press Conference, Aston Martin boss Andy Cowell conceded the team’s communication to Stroll needed to be clearer as he explained the damage that was done by the collision.
«Our radio call wasn’t clear enough, is the bottom line so we need to learn from that,» said Cowell. «Rear wishbone broken, damage to the floor, [the] best option was to change the gearbox because we set up two gearboxes yesterday ready for that sort of scenario.
«The downside is that Lance doesn’t get FP1 back. So it’s those laps that he’s missed. In terms of set-up and learning, then it’s learning from Fernando’s running that feeds across to both cars going forwards.»
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