The Monaco Grand Prix stewards have given Lance Stroll a one-place penalty on the grid for the race.
The Aston Martin driver was held responsible for his collision with Charles Leclerc which occured shortly after the session began.The pair collided on the approach to the Fairmont Hotel hairpin. Leclerc was on a flying lap at the time, while Stroll was lapping slowly. The Aston Martin driver was off the racing line as the Ferrari approached him, but moved onto the line as they reached the corner.
Leclerc was unable to slow or swerve away from the Aston Martin to avoid contact and hit the rear of the AMR25. This left Leclerc’s Ferrari with a damaged front wing, which the team was able to replace, while the damage to the rear suspension on Stroll’s car prevented him from taking any further part in the session. Practice was briefly red-flagged while debris from their collision was cleared up.
After speaking to both drivers and their teams, and analysing footage and data from the incident, the stewards held Stroll entirely responsible. They noted his Aston Martin race engineer Gary Gannon had warned him Leclerc was approaching.
“The driver of car 18 [Stroll] stated that although the team warned him of the arrival of car 16 [Leclerc], 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 addition to his one-place grid penalty, the stewards added one penalty point to Stroll’s licence. He is now on a total of three for the current 12-month period.
Lance Stroll’s penalty points
| Date | Event | Session | Infringement | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1/12/2024 | Qatar Grand Prix | Grand prix | ‘Car 18 caused a collision with Car 23 in turn 4.’ | 2 |
| 23/5/2025 | Monaco Grand Prix | First practice | ‘Collision between Car 18 and Car 16 at Turn 6.’ | 1 |
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2025 Monaco Grand Prix
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tielemst
23rd May 2025, 15:10
Completely agree with this. Not the first time Stroll shows lack of awareness.
Edvaldo
23rd May 2025, 15:11
So, from last to…last?
Jere (@jerejj)
23rd May 2025, 15:19
I was only expecting a team fine because sporting penalties for practice session incidents are very rare, so a clear exception to the rule.
baasbas
23rd May 2025, 15:28
Only 1.. looked stupid enough to warrant 3..
..and then he put his helmet on, got in the car and then did this too?
maaaan
Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
23rd May 2025, 16:02
Although clearly Stroll’s fault, this does seem unusual for a collision in practice. Have drivers every been penalized before with things like grid penalties for the race?
As I follow Bottas, I can remember a couple of things he did in practice that I think were possibly worse than what Stroll did here. One of which being Abu Dhabi one year. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nh590RfstZc Right at the end.
There was also a time in Belgium where he somehow collided with Vandoorne I think.
bernasaurus (@bernasaurus)
23rd May 2025, 17:15
Though a penalty for such a thing in practice is rare, I think in this instance it’s fair. Charl had nowhere to go but hit him. Yes, it’s Monaco and Lance is blind to seeing whats coming behind, but so Blanchimont, you can’t just pull on the racing line at slow speed and leave the driver behind with no options.
It’s one place, but more of a (expensive) reminder to him and his engineer about communication.