Lance Stroll reveals military escort after Las Vegas trackside stranding
Lance Stroll was forced into retirement at the Las Vegas Grand Prix with wing damage.
Lance Stroll revealed he received a form of military-style escort back to the pit lane in Las Vegas, after his early retirement.
The Aston Martin driver was stranded trackside for most of the race after being shunted by Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto on the opening lap, being forced to wait where he was with significant road closures around Las Vegas.
Lance Stroll reveals unusual pit lane return after Las Vegas retirement
Bortoleto tried an optimistic move to the inside of several cars at Turn 1 at the start of the race, but was pitched into a spin after colliding with Stroll.
The Aston Martin driver, suffering rear wing damage as a result, was forced to retire from the race, but due to Las Vegas’ nature as a street circuit, he needed to wait for a clear route back to the pit lane.
On the incident that ended his race, Stroll took a pragmatic view, saying afterwards: “I mean, Gabi didn’t do it on purpose. It happens.
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“Sometimes it’s cold conditions, you lock up, you lose control of the car. So, yeah, it’s not fun for either of us, but he didn’t do it on purpose. It’s racing. It can happen, these things.”
Having eventually procured a vehicle to bring him back to the pit lane, Stroll had spent much of the race on the sidelines before his unusual escort back to the paddock.
Asked if he spent time trackside just watching the race, Stroll said with a smile: “You can’t get back here because all the roads are closed.
“I was trying to get back. Eventually, I got into a golf buggy, and there was like a military group that escorted me back here.
“It took a while. It took 40 laps, but eventually I managed to find my way back to the paddock. I didn’t have to spend the night over there!”
After both McLaren drivers were disqualified, Aston Martin lost a place in the Constructors’ standings to Haas as both Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman were promoted into the points places.
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