Monaco Grand Prix winner Andrea Kimi Antonelli was unimpressed with Lance Stroll’s driving during the race – and he wasn’t the only one.
Antonelli complained the Aston Martin driver cost him time when he lapped Stroll for the second time in the race. He caught Stroll at the Fairmont Hotel hairpin, then followed him through three more corners until the Aston Martin finally moved aside for him at the Nouvelle Chicane.
“Stroll is the usual idiot, honestly,” Antonelli remarked to his race engineer Peter Bonnington.
Antonelli was around 20 seconds ahead of the Ferraris at the time. When they caught Stroll to lap him, Charles Leclerc was also unhappy with his reaction to the blue flags.
Stroll’s race engineer told him he had blue flags for Leclerc as he rounded the Fairmont Hotel hairpin. Again, he waited until the Nouvelle Chicane before letting his rival past.
“Give him a penalty,” Leclerc told his race engineer Bryan Bozzi. He replied: “Copy that.”
Race control did not investigate Stroll, or any other driver, for failing to respond to blue flags. The Competition Notes for the event state drivers being lapped must “allow the following driver to overtake at the first available opportunity” once they are separated by no more than 1.2 seconds.
Stroll endured another difficult race in Aston Martin’s ill-handling AMR26. On the second lap he caught a huge snap of oversteer as he rounded the high-speed right-hander through the tunnel.
“That was interesting in the tunnel, did you see that?” he asked his race engineer. “See you later,” he added, laughing.
However his race did not last much longer after Leclerc’s complaint about his driving. He hit the barrier at Anthony Noghes on his 57th lap. “It was like the throttle was just stuck wide open,” he reported before climbing out.
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2026 Monaco Grand Prix
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- “Stroll the usual idiot”: Aston Martin driver frustrated leaders in Monaco GP
- Stats: Antonelli smashes record for youngest-ever ‘grand slam’
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Published by
Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 – when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring journalist, Keith began running the site full-time in 2010, achieving a long-held ambition to dedicate his full attention to his passion for motor racing. View all posts by Keith Collantine