Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll was involved in a crash with Fernando Alonso at the Formula 1 US Grand Prix last Sunday. Sebastian Vettel’s team-mate should be banned for this, his compatriot and former world champion Jacques Villeneuve railed.
1997 Formula 1 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve buttoned Lance Stroll in his column for “formule1.nl” before. “He should be banned for the race for the incident with Fernando Alonso,” said the Canadian clearly. What happened?
Stroll, who saw the approaching Alonso in the rear-view mirror, had pulled to the left on the straight to prevent the Spaniard from overtaking. The Noch-Alpine-Pilot was not able to evade in time and drove up. The result: Alonso lost control of his car and crashed into the track barrier on the left.
However, Stroll suffered the greater damage himself, having to end the race prematurely. Alonso was able to get back on track after a pit stop and finished seventh. After a protest from Haas, the veteran was ultimately relegated to 15th place after the race. Stroll was then given two penalty points for his driving behavior.
“When I talk about dangerous driving, I’m talking about Lance Stroll,” added Jacques Villeneuve, who longs for tougher sanctions: “The FIA must intervene and impose more penalties for this type of offense.”
Villeneuve accuses Stroll of intention
The world association was “very lax both in Formula 1 and in the lower classes” when the drivers swing over on the straight. That’s the most dangerous thing there is and the last thing you want to see. It’s pathetic and super dangerous.” In Formula 3 or Formula 4 you see “sometimes guys who drive like in a video game”.
Such driving behavior “endangers other drivers – possibly even their lives,” added the Canadian, who had repeatedly criticized Stroll in the past. Villeneuve even accused the Vettel colleague of intention: “It’s because they consciously choose something like this, not because they make a mistake, so it’s really unacceptable.”
In the end, Alonso was just “lucky” that the accident didn’t have major consequences for him. “He managed to get the car back to the pits and after they sent it out with a new nose and tires he was still able to keep going and scoring points. This Alpine seems as tough as a tank. Alonso drove impressively “, praised Villeneuve.