In an otherwise anonymous race, Lance Stroll managed to get noticed at Silverstone by collecting three penalties in the space of just nine laps, each one for exceeding track limits.
The Aston Martin driver had little chance of shining in Sunday's race. Struggling badly for outright pace, the AMR26 is currently the slowest car on the grid, and onboard footage throughout the weekend showed Stroll battling severe understeer around the Silverstone circuit.
The Canadian had qualified 21st and second-last on Saturday, ahead of only his teammate, Fernando Alonso. However, he started Sunday's race from 22nd on the grid after changing components in his Honda engine beyond the permitted quota, resulting in a 10-place grid penalty.
Stroll attracted attention only in the closing stages, when he reached the maximum number of track limits infringements permitted before penalties are applied. Having already accumulated the three allowed violations, every subsequent excursion beyond the white lines carried an immediate sanction.
And he did it in spectacular fashion, receiving no fewer than three separate five-second penalties for repeated track limits offences.
After the race, the stewards issued three separate decisions just before 8 pm confirming the sanctions.
The first five-second penalty was handed down for exceeding track limits at Turn 18 on Lap 33—his fourth infringement of the race. The second followed after another offence at Turn 9 on Lap 35, his fifth, while the third and final penalty came after leaving the track at Turn 15 on Lap 42, marking his sixth infringement overall.
Those six unjustified track limits violations ultimately resulted in a total of 15 seconds being added to Stroll's race time. It made little difference to the final classification, however, as he had already finished 19th and last of the drivers still running at the chequered flag.
“We have the information we need and understand where we need to improve, so these weekends are just a case of being patient and waiting for the upgrades to come", he said after the race, referring to the upgrade package planned for Hungary.
"We had a lot of understeer during the race and a very unpredictable car, so it's hard with track limits. I'm always trying to give it everything I can, and hopefully things get better soon.”
Photos from British GP - Sunday
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