"Mate this f**king Aston Martin, what the f**k?": F1 driver furious at Lance Stroll after incident at the start of the Qatar GP
Lance Stroll and Alex Albon came together on the first lap of the Qatar GP at the Lusail International Circuit. Kick Sauber driver Zhou Guanya was behind the Aston Martin when the Canadian hit the Williams driver. The Chinese driver had to take avoiding action and was furious at Stroll as the team radio revealed his frustration.
Zhou Guanyu said (via F1TV):
“Mate this f**king Aston Martin, what the f**k.”
Alex Albon, who was on the receiving end of Stroll’s move, said (via F1TV):
“I got massively hit by Stroll. I knew he was going to do it. I could tell.”
Stroll started the race in P15 with Albon right beside him in P16. Albon overtook the Canadian into the first corner. However going into the two consecutive right-hand corners of Turn 4 and 5, Albon and Stroll were alongside each other. The Canadian had the inside line as Albon tried to stick it around the outside.
The two made it safely around Turn 4. However, Stroll ran wide on Turn 5 and hit Albon on his outside. The Williams driver was sent spinning into the gravel. Zhou, who had the best seat for the incident, had to avoid the crash and ran extremely wide.
Nonetheless, all of the three drivers were able to recover and continued the race. Zhou overtook both Stroll and Albon as a result of the crash. The Canadian driver had the worst outcome and lost a couple of positions.
Although both Albon and Zhou slammed Stroll on the radio, according to Jolyon Palmer, it was a racing incident. The Aston Martin driver hit the apex and ran marginally wide given the cars have 100 kgs of fuel onboard. Unfortunately, Albon was right on the outside and was collected by Stroll.
However, this wasn't the only crash that happened on the first lap of the Qatar GP.
Nico Hulkenberg collects Esteban Ocon and Franco Colapinto on the first lap at the 2024 Qatar GP
Nico Hulkenberg was the only driver who started the Qatar GP on hard tires. The Haas driver seemed to have no grip as he approached Turn 1. Esteban Ocon and Franco Colaptinto took the outside line and were tip-toeing to make it through safely.
Unfortunately, Hulkenberg locked his rear right tire, missed the apex, ran wide, and hit the Frenchman. It was then a domino effect as the Williams driver, who ran wide to avoid a crash, was collected by Ocon’s Alpine.
Both Ocon and Colapinto retired from the Qatar GP. The Alpine had a damaged front suspension whereas the Williams' rear suspension was broken. Surprisingly, Hulkenberg, who was the catalyst, made it out safely with just a rear puncture. A safety car was subsequently brought out as Ocon and Colapinto were stranded on the outside of Turn 1. The Haas came into the pits and changed its tires.