Aston Martin suffer early blow in Saudi Arabia GP after Lance Stroll told to stop car

Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll is an early casualty from the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, bringing out the Safety Car.

Stroll had been embroiled in a thrilling strategic battle with the Ferrari duo, having been running as high as fourth in the early stages of the Grand Prix at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.

However, Aston Martin brought Stroll in for a change onto the hard compound tyres and, with both Ferrari drivers extending their first stint slightly longer, resulted in him being shuffled down to ninth place.

Shortly after, Stroll was told to pull over and stop his car in the second sector of the high-speed circuit with an apparent technical issue – his stoppage has resulted in the deployment of the Safety Car. Replays of the incident show Stroll slowing and pulling over behind the barriers in a completely controlled manner, with no obvious issue with the car.

An update from Aston Martin has stated: “The team are still investigating the cause but there was a reduction in energy recovery.”