Breaking news
Formula 1 Turkish GP
Damaged front wing caused Stroll's loss of pace in Turkey
Lance Stroll's drop-off in performance in the Turkish GP was due to front wing damage that could not be seen in his pitstop, the Racing Point Formula 1 team has revealed.
Adam Cooper
Edited: Nov 16, 2020, 5:30 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Stroll led the race comfortably in the early stages on full wet tyres, but began to suffer graining in his second stint on intermediates, allowing teammate Sergio Perez to cut his advantage.
After a stop for a fresh set of inters Stroll's pace dropped off badly and he fell back to an eventual ninth place at the flag.
It was only when the car returned from parc ferme to the garage after the race that previously unseen damage to the underside of the front wing was discovered.
It backed up the team's live data that had indicated a loss of downforce that could not be accounted for.
Given Stroll's obvious frustration after the race - in which Perez finished second - Racing Point has moved quickly to clarify the situation with a statement.
"Lance complained of poor tyre performance, significant understeer, and graining from lap 17 onwards in the race," it read.
"Pitting for a fresh set of intermediates on lap 36 failed to resolve the problem with the graining becoming even more severe.
"One of the strakes on the underside of the front wing came loose and lodged itself in such a way that the blockage caused a significant loss of front downforce.
Read Also:
- Perez: No team orders at Racing Point when leading Turkish GP
- Turkish Grand Prix driver ratings
- How Hamilton won a race "that wasn't his to win"
- Stroll "can't understand" graining issues after Turkey slump
"The resultant loss of front downforce contributed to increased levels of graining.
"Data during the race confirmed there was a significant loss of front downforce, but with no visible damage to the top side of the front wing, combined with the low-grip conditions, it was difficult to confirm whether the data was correct.
"It was only after the race, when the car returned to the garage, that the damage and blockage to the underside of the front wing was discovered."
Although Perez logged good points with second place Stroll's tumble to ninth could prove expensive in the battle with McLaren and Renault for third place in the constructors' championship.
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Vettel has "zero tolerance" for Turkey crane incident
Next article Perez: No team orders at Racing Point when leading in Turkey
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Adam Cooper
RB: Tsunoda “mentally on a different level” in 2024
Formula 1
Formula 1
Japanese GP
Apr 10, 2024
RB: Tsunoda “mentally on a different level” in 2024
Andretti planning F2 and F3 entries to promote US talent to F1 team
Formula 1
Formula 1 Apr 10, 2024
Andretti planning F2 and F3 entries to promote US talent to F1 team
Andretti F1 team formally opens new Silverstone facility
Formula 1
Formula 1 Apr 10, 2024
Andretti F1 team formally opens new Silverstone facility
More from
Lance Stroll
Honda struggling to explain Lance Stroll’s 13th DNF of the season
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
3 d
Honda struggling to explain Lance Stroll’s 13th DNF of the season
"Unacceptable downshifts" – Max Verstappen explains what's behind a recurring F1 radio complaint
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
6 d
"Unacceptable downshifts" – Max Verstappen explains what's behind a recurring F1 radio complaint
Latest news
Sebastien Bourdais hopes latest WEC success will remind teams of his value
WEC
WEC WEC
Monza
1 h
Sebastien Bourdais hopes latest WEC success will remind teams of his value
"It's horribly painful" - Williams drops 2026 car upgrades to benefit 2027
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
2 h
"It's horribly painful" - Williams drops 2026 car upgrades to benefit 2027
Iker Lecuona felt significant differences between Ducati's GP25 and GP26
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Qatar GP
3 h
Iker Lecuona felt significant differences between Ducati's GP25 and GP26
Feature
Discover prime content
Top 10 F1 cars of the 1970s
Formula 1
By Kevin Turner
Top 10 F1 cars of the 1970s
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe