Williams scraps Tuesday running after Stroll spin

2017 F1 season

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Williams has confirmed it will not run any more in the second day of F1 testing following Lance Stroll’s spin in the morning.

The team’s new driver spun off on his 12th lap of the day at the exit of turn nine. He went through a gravel trap causing some damage to the car.

“Lance was on lap six of his second run when he had a spin,” explained head of performance engineer Rob Smedley. “The grip was particularly low and so he spun and went through the gravel backwards.”

Smedley confirmed a shortage of spare parts will keep the team from taking further part in the session today.

“Even though the accident was entirely innocuous we’ve unfortunately had quite a bit of accident damage, which we’re now in the process of repairing,” he said.

“We’re having to send some composite parts back to the factory, which will be back with us at some point tomorrow. We’re doing the up-most we can now to get back out on track at the earliest opportunity tomorrow. We will be able to recover the programme in the coming days.”

Stroll said he is still “getting to grips with the FW40”.

“It was good to finally get behind the wheel to just get a feel for it,” he added.

“Like I said, it is still early days, so I need to do a lot more running before I know exactly where I am and where the car is at. I will have a much better picture once we have more laps under our belts, but it was good to break the ice and I am looking forward to some more running.”

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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21 comments on “Williams scraps Tuesday running after Stroll spin”

  1. “The ice” isn’t all he broke, clearly.

  2. Bob Christensen
    28th February 2017, 12:40

    Brings back memories of the first time I, driver’s license still warm from the press, borrowed my dad’s car and immediately pranged it.

    The old man took it well…

    /Bo

    1. Same here! I borrowed my sister’s car and raced one of my neighbours down the street and crashed into a wall. I told my sister – a big animal lover – that I was avoiding a dog and she took it well.

      1. petebaldwin (@)
        28th February 2017, 14:24

        I remember years ago when I was at school a kid passed his test and then almost immediately flipped his brand new car. When he came back into school the following week (he had a whole week to come up with a good excuse) he said he flipped his car because he had to swerve to avoid an owl.

        1. Bob Christensen
          28th February 2017, 14:54

          “The owls are not what they seem” :-)

  3. Pat Ruadh (@fullcoursecaution)
    28th February 2017, 12:41

    Who had lap 12?

  4. *knowing chuckle*

  5. I just don’t understand his dad’s obsession with rushing the junior formulae. Max’s ability to go straight from F3 to F1 is the exception, not the rule. It’s only one spin, and I’m reserving judgement until after the first few races.

    1. Indeed. Max crashing in that demo isn’t much different tbh.

      1. Cars are gaster and more physical this year. In 2007 Hamilton had a big crash in testing.

  6. “Stroll said he is still “getting to grips with the FW40”.

    Or not. Trying too hard perhaps? A natural rookie error but this downtime will cost them. I know it’s hindsight but surely it would have been better to run him after they’ve proved or refined the concept? Thank goodness for Felipe baby!

    1. @baron, some of the more experienced drivers have also been making a few mistakes too though – Magnussen crashed on the first day and was lucky to get away with just a damaged front wing, whilst Bottas was rather lucky to get away with a half spin at Turn 9 today when he ran the car too far over the kerbs and spun into the inside wall, hitting it with the rear suspension.

  7. I wouldn’t be too hard on him for this. I remember Lewis Hamilton doing exactly the same on his first test as a racing driver in 2007 and basically destroying his McLaren. Of course there was no testing restriction back then and losing days was not as important. Still, I bet the people in Woking were not happy.

  8. I won’t judge too harshly just yet… *bites tongue*…

    I wouldn’t be surprised if we have a Diet Maldonado on our hands, quick but prone to the occasional accident.

    1. Diet Maldonado😂 hope this catches on.

    2. @ben-n Soooo after Bottas put it in the wall at the same turn, what does that make him? Or Lewis spinning into the gravel yesterday? Any new nicknames for them?

      1. @sward28 – I agree I was a little harsh, it is his first test after all and I’d expect nothing more – I’m more commenting on his reputation coming into the sport than the spin today. I hope he’ll prove me wrong (I actually think he’ll beat Massa).

        My main grievance with him isn’t really his fault… Williams is the team I have the biggest soft spot for and I am thoroughly disappointed with the driver line up this year. Stroll is there when he should have been in GP2 (or similar) to hone his skills, as David Coulthard once said “Formula One is not a finishing school”… In my opinion, Massa has then been brought in mainly as a benchmark for Stroll meaning Williams are now left with an underwhelming line up of a totally inexperienced rookie and an aging, off-the-pace former Ferrari No.2 (deliberately harsh to make a point…). To think that they could have had some combination of Wehrlein/Di Resta/Buemi/Vergne and maybe even Button if they had pushed hard enough bothers me.

        1. @ben-n I totally understood that you were taking aim at his money and even I must admit rather shaky 2015 F3 campaign. However, he is not as inexperienced as many make him out to be. He’s been driving a 2014 FW36 for most of the winter. I made a case for Stroll on this site, back when he was confirmed and Keith ran an article that said he should be in GP2. I said this:

          “Many high profile names have had their careers stall in GP2. Alex Lynn, Raffaele Marciello, Mitch Evans to name a few recent examples. On top of this, even if you do win the GP2 championship down the line in your 3rd or 4th year of the series, you are not considered to be a top talent anyways (Palmer, Pantano, Leimer, Valsecchi). Not to mention if he spends a year in GP2, does so so, decides on another year in GP2 for 2018, before you know it the next Verstappen or Ocon is coming up the ranks and you are a forgotten man.”

          My point was that I think he should capitalize on this opportunity. If he turned this down, who knows what happens in the future. Yes, daddy has the money, but the guy won 14 of 30 F3 races last season. He’s no slouch.

          I also agree with you that he will beat Massa and that they brought Felipe back as a benchmark. That for me is the real disappointment in my opinion. Totally uninspiring. I don’t think you are too harsh in your characterization of him. The only guy you mentioned there that I think should get another shot is Buemi. He has really grown as a professional since he left Toro Rosso, not sure he would have been a Williams fit though. I has hoping Renault would give him a shot. Wehrlein is overrated and cocky, Di Resta never stood out and then compounded that with a terrible second half of 2013 and has never come back from that as a race driver and Vergne is incredibly quick in qualifying but really inconsistent in races. That even dates back to his F1 days. Lastly, Button is one of my all time favourites, but even I thought it was his time to leave at the end of the season.

        2. Don’t worry about the Williams lineup. By race 3 Massa will have re-retired and the best driver on the grid will be changing into some plainer overalls.

  9. That’s why they hired Massa again…

  10. Laurence seen strolling the paddock, fuming, muttering something about $45 million and spare parts.

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