Stroll deemed “wholly to blame” for FP1 collision

Lance Stroll has received a one-place grid penalty for the Monaco Grand Prix after the Stewards ruled he was “wholly to blame” for his FP1 collision with Charles Leclerc.

A lapse of concentration in the opening minutes of Free Practice 1 led to the first Red Flag of the weekend, with debris littered across the Turn 6 hairpin after the hometown hero’s ‘Monaco Curse’ made a reappearance. 

After opening his session with a costly lock-up at Turn 5, Charles Leclerc’s next run through the 3.3km circuit ended just metres down the road when Stroll failed to both spot the Ferrari driver in his mirrors or hear his team’s radioed warning of Leclerc’s approach.

Having adhered to blue flags to let a Mercedes by, Stroll assumed the coast was clear as he darted back onto the racing line — only for Leclerc to arrive at full speed, leaving the Ferrari driver no option but to slam into the back of the Aston Martin. 

The incident was instantly placed under investigation, with the Stewards coming to the expected conclusion that the #18 was at fault.

“The Stewards heard from the driver of Car 18 (Lance Stroll), the driver of Car 16 (Charles Leclerc), team representatives and reviewed positioning/marshalling system data, video, timing, team radio and in-car video evidence and determined that Car 18 cut across the path of Car 16 at Turn 6 causing Car 16 to collide into Car 18,” the official documentation read.

“Car 16 suffered damage as a result.

“The driver of Car 18 stated that although the team warned him of the arrival of Car 16, 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 the circumstances, we imposed a 1 grid position penalty for the Race and 1 penalty point.”

The heavy collision saw the Monegasque limping back to the pitlane with his front wing dragging beneath the SF25, leaving lasting repercussions for Leclerc that were felt throughout the remaining 50 minutes of track action despite the #16 setting the fastest lap in FP1. 

As for the Aston Martin driver, his session never got going again due to the significant damage sustained to the rear of his car, with the Canadian instead retreating to the AMF1 engineering room that is hosting Adrian Newey for the very first time in 2025.

With FP2 kicking off in less than an hour, the #18 will be hoping to make the most of the session to soften the blow of his grid penalty, knowing how crucial track position is around Monaco.

Image: Formula 1

2025 Monaco Grand Prix Schedule (AEST):

Friday, May 23:

FP1: 21:30 – 22:30

Saturday, May 24:

FP2: 01:00 – 02:00

FP3: 20:30 – 21:30

Sunday, May 25:

Quali: 00:00 – 01:00

Race: 23:00

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