Stroll retains pole in Istanbul after FIA investigation

Too slow, Lance stroll ? Unworthy of having his place among the motorsport elite because of his full suitcases? The Canadian doesn't care. Discreet in nature (another negative point according to some observers), the European champion of Formula 3 2016 brought down the criticism, and in what way!

The native of Montreal damned the pawn to his teammate Sergio Pérez, then to a Max Verstappen dominant since the free practice sessions in Istanbul (Türkiye) for open your pole count in Formula 1. The most surprised was undoubtedly the person concerned!

Lance Pole!#TurkishGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/WumsmY2cJ1

— Formula 1 (@F1) November 14, 2020

" I am in shock ! I didn't at all expect to find myself in this position after the last free practice sessions. There were quite a few things we weren't sure about before qualifying.

Our pace didn’t look very competitive in FP3, but I’m so happy now! I managed to put in a solid lap at the end of Q3. I was under a lot of pressure and only had one more opportunity. »

One of the keys to this success was the choice of tires. “We started on ‘rain’ tyres, but we had to enter the pits and take the intermediates. Then I had a turn where Valtteri (Bottas) spun right in front of me, so I only had one lap left to make up a time. »

However, we learned, less than an hour after the checkered flag, that the driver was summoned by the stewards, precisely for not having slowed down sufficiently under yellow flags in Q3! The hearing, which began at 16:30 p.m. French time, lasted almost two hours.

The commissioners analyzed the telemetry of the pink car when Sergio Pérez spun at turn 7. Lance Stroll, according to them, “released the accelerator, then accelerated again after the scene of the incident. The sector times do not clearly show this slowdown because the track was drying quickly and each lap was faster than the previous one. »

Lance Stroll thus preserves his pole position.