Lance finishes 13th in attrition-filled Saudi Arabia Grand Prix

Lance Stroll finished the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix in 13th after Alex Albon made contact with his AMR22 and damaged his race.

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Lining up on the grid, Lance was promoted one place and into 12th due to the retirement of Yuki Tsunoda on the formation lap.

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Opting to start the race on the Medium Pirelli tyres, Lance was quick toff the line and immediately got on the defensive to hold off Daniel Ricciardo.

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An early pitstop for Riccardo gave Lance some breathing room, but it wasn’t long before the Canadian was caught by Lewis Hamilton and Guanyu Zhou, moving into 14th.

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Pitting on lap 13 of the 50-lap race, Lance switched to the Hard tyres as the team prepared for a one-stop strategy. Unfortunately, a Safety Car for the Williams of Nicholas Latifi hampered Lance’s chances of improving.

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When racing resumed, Lance progressed through the field into the top 10 and the point-scoring positions until lap 45 when he was caught by Lewis Hamilton for 10th.

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There was late drama as the Williams of Alex Albon collided with Lance, damaging his AMR22 and dropping Lance back into 13th, where he ended the race.

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Lance Stroll – Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One™ Team Driver

“We did our best to try to hold on for a points finish after the late Virtual Safety Car period, but unfortunately two cars behind us were on a faster and fresher tyre compound, so there was not much we could do. It was a shame that we ended the final laps with some damage after a collision with Alex [Albon]. I felt I had left him space when he made his dive, but I have not watched the replays yet. There is still a long season ahead of us, so we will keep working hard to find more performance in the car for the coming races.”

Formula One will return to Melbourne for the Australian Grand Prix for the first time since 2019, with FP1 getting underway on Friday, April 8 from 4am BST.

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