Aston Martin has accepted full responsibility for the incident between Lance Stroll and Charles Leclerc during FP1 in Monaco, which has resulted in a grid penalty for its driver.
The Canadian has received a one-place grid penalty for the Monaco Grand Prix following a collision with local favourite Leclerc.
As the Monegasque approached the tight hotel section and entered the hairpin, Stroll moved onto the racing line, seemingly unaware of the Ferrari rapidly closing in behind him.
The two made contact moments later.
Leclerc’s front wing sustained significant damage, while the rear of Stroll’s Aston Martin also suffered, requiring repairs to the rear wishbone and floor.
“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.
“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).”
Aston Martin admits fault after costly practice collision
The British squad accepted responsibility for the incident afterwards, and Team Principal Andy Cowell revealed the extent of the damage from the collision.
“Yeah, our radio call wasn’t clear enough, so we need to learn from that,” he said.
“Rear wishbone broken, damage to the floor and so the best option is to change the gearbox because we set up two gearboxes yesterday with 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.”
Stroll finished the session at the bottom of the timesheets, unable to complete his full run plan during the opening practice at Monaco.
The incident has not only disrupted his session but also left Aston Martin with limited data to analyse ahead of the weekend’s subsequent sessions.
READ MORE – Charles Leclerc fastest in Monaco FP1 despite early crash
