Toro Rosso driver Carlos Sainz has been handed a three-place grid penalty for the Russian Grand Prix after being deemed "predominantly to blame" for a collision with Lance Stroll in Bahrain.
"I got hit from the side", exclaimed a startled Stroll over the team radio.
The incident put both drivers out of the floodlit race at the Sakhir Circuit. The Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix will take place on Sunday.
The stewards blamed the Toro Rosso driver alone stating that video evidence "showed that vehicle 18 was on the normal racing line, auto 55 left the pit lane and made a very optimistic attempt to pass auto 18 into the corner". "The above penalty is not susceptible to appeal".
Stroll, who has yet to score points in his first three races of F1, said he could not understand what Sainz was trying to do as he left the pits.
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"I was like 50 (or) 60 meters ahead of him in the braking zone, and he just dive-bombed as I was turning", said Stroll, who is the son of billionaire Laurence Stroll. "I was burning like insane, I need to see what it was but I had to get out of the auto because it was just killing me. I just wanted to get out of there".
Stroll, the son of Canadian billionaire investor Lawrence Stroll, is the first Canadian on the grid since 1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve left F1 a decade ago.
"I was burning like insane", Stroll said. "The stewards will make the decision but I'm just disappointed and hope my luck turns around sometime soon". I can be frustrated, but it's not going to get me anywhere. "Obviously there are many races to go, but I'm just very upset".
With a brake failure in Australia, and contact with Sergio Perez on the opening lap in China, Stroll is yet to finish a Grand Prix this season.
"I was exiting the box as you saw and suddenly I saw Lance taking a very wide line", the Toro Rosso driver said.
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