Lance Stroll’s Las Vegas weekend ended with a busted rear wing, a long wait, and — somehow — a military-style escort back to the paddock.
The Aston Martin driver was eliminated on Lap 1 after contact with Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto into Turn 1. Bortoleto dived down the inside amid the accordion effect at the start, tagged Stroll, and the Aston’s rear wing cried enough. On a street circuit that locks itself down once the lights go out, Stroll’s Sunday turned into an odd exercise in patience.
“You can’t get back here because all the roads are closed,” he said afterward, still half-amused by the absurdity of it all. “I was trying to get back. Eventually, I got into a golf buggy, and there was like a military group that escorted me back. It took a while. It took 40 laps, but I managed to find my way to the paddock. I didn’t have to spend the night over there!”
On the clash itself, Stroll kept it even-keeled. “Gabi didn’t do it on purpose. It happens,” he said. “Sometimes it’s cold conditions, you lock up, you lose control. It’s not fun for either of us, but it’s racing.”
The sting for Aston Martin didn’t end with the early retirement. Post-race disqualifications for both McLarens shuffled the order and lifted Haas drivers Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman into the points, a twist that nudged Aston Martin down a place in the Constructors’ standings. On a weekend where the green cars were already up against it, that’s the kind of bookkeeping you don’t want.
The Vegas opener was always going to be risky business. Low grip, cool track, and a Turn 1 that invites optimism — it’s a recipe. Bortoleto took the chance, it didn’t stick, and Stroll paid the price. That’s the brutality of the first lap on a street track: a few meters of misjudgment and your race is over before the neon really gets going.
For Stroll, the most eventful part of his evening happened after the chequered flag had settled his fate early. With barriers and closures hemming him in, he ended up spectating from the wrong side of the wall until the all-clear. Only in Las Vegas do you retire from a Grand Prix and return to the paddock in a golf cart under escort, like you’ve wandered off the set of a heist movie.
Aston Martin will be more concerned with form than anecdotes, though. Points have been hard-fought this year, and weekends like this — where the car shows flashes but leaves empty-handed — take a toll over a long season. The Constructors’ table doesn’t care about mitigating circumstances, and neither do the teams around them.
Still, there are two takeaways worth pocketing. First, Stroll’s acceptance of the incident — cold tires, aggressive starts, no malice — is a tone that often pays dividends when the stewards come calling and the same cast crosses paths again. Second, while Las Vegas can turn into chaos at the margins, there was pace in the midfield that didn’t translate for Aston. Sorting that out quickly matters, especially with Haas finding opportunistic points and Sauber swinging elbows at the start.
As for the strangest part of Stroll’s night? That’s easy. Retire Lap 1. Wait trackside. Hitch a ride in a golf buggy. Return under escort. Only in Vegas.
