In the round-up: Lance Stroll says his first-lap tangle with team mate Fernando Alonso was a matter of “bad timing”.
In brief
Stroll relieved not to eliminate team mate
Stroll admitted he was “really lucky” not to take Alonso out when he hit his team mate on the first lap of yesterday’s Bahrain Grand Prix, while he was dicing with George Russell.
“I brake late to stay in front of George, Fernando went for a cut back on Hamilton in turn four and it was just really bad timing,” Stroll explained afterwards. “We came together, so we’re really lucky to get away with that one.”
Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack said “these things in lap one can happen” and the team would continue to let its two drivers fight for position. “I don’t like to see that either, that is clear, but we let them race in lap one and lap two and continuously so it’s something that you know can happen.”
Hauger infuriated by “unbelievable” engine failure
Red Bull junior team member Dennis Hauger was dismayed at retiring from the second race of the season due to a failure on his Formula 2 engine. “In race two we had a technical issue with the turbo mainly which just ruined our race,” the MP Motorsport driver explained. “We could easily have been on the podium with the pace we had shown.”
“Unbelievable to see the engine already fail before we have even completed a full race weekend,” Hauger continued. “But at least we know we have good pace and can go into next race with good confidence to gain back our lost points.”
Vesti gets Jeddah penalty
Frederik Vesti has been given a five-place grid penalty for the next race of the Formula 2 championship. On the opening lap of the Bahrain feature race, Vesti lunged down the inside of turn four to then hit Richard Verschoor, who spun as a result of the contact.
The stewards deemed Vesti “wholly at fault for the collision”, ruling Verschoor left sufficient room at the apex. The Prema driver will be penalised at the next race he competes in, which should be the sprint race in Saudi Arabia at the next round of the championship. Two penalty points have also been added to his record.
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Social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
We have a lot of work to do. Not the first race we wanted to have, struggling with the pace in the race and unfortunately not finishing the race because of a reliability problem.
Two weeks to push flat out and react starting from Jeddah! pic.twitter.com/qKMYvJqB7M— Charles Leclerc (@Charles_Leclerc) March 5, 2023
We’re a long way from where we want to be right now, but it’s not through a lack of commitment. Every single member of this team is giving their all to get us back to the front and together I know we will achieve it. I’m proud to be a part of this awesome group of people. pic.twitter.com/Uy5wBX3RsK
— George Russell (@GeorgeRussell63) March 5, 2023
The #FirestoneGP is red flagged after this lap 1 incident.#INDYCAR // @GPSTPETE pic.twitter.com/7s50XtKiTi
— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) March 5, 2023
How the last car coming through not slowing down? How do you not see what’s happening in front of you? Glad it appears everyone is ok but that’s unacceptable.
— Sage Karam (@SageKaram) March 5, 2023
Sorry @F1 but the @Indycar was way more entertaining despite the fact that Romain Grosjean was robbed of his first win!!
— Tiff Needell (@tiff_tv) March 5, 2023
Ghastly luck for Gabriele Mini, leading the #F3 feature race in Bahrain but carrying a five-second time penalty, the last thing you want is a late Safety Car… and he gets one on the last lap. Cruel.
— Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine) March 5, 2023
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Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Bac!