It’s a scene that is both impressive and a bit funny to which the spectators and television viewers of the qualifications for the Australian Grand Prix, this Saturday morning on the tracks of Adelaide, were able to witness. A spectacular crash involving the two Canadian drivers Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) and Nicholas Latifi (Williams), obviously resulting from a misunderstanding between the two F1 drivers during the fifth lap of Q1, just minutes from the end of the race.
On the images, we can see that Latifi initially slows down to let Stroll pass, then accelerates, tries to overtake him on the right and crashes with the rear of his car into the right front wheel of his compatriot. The impact, quite violent, completely destroyed Latifi’s car, which emerged unscathed from the impact. “I don’t understand what he did, he didn’t look in his mirrors… the car is ruined”, we hear Latifi tell his team on the spot. “What the fuck is he doing, f***?” ! He just bumped into me! “, reacted for his part, at first, Lance Stroll.
“A Bizarre Accident”
“He let me pass at the front bend, then he tried to overtake again at a place where the track turns really to the right, and therefore the car really tightened to the right, reacted Stroll to the microphones of Canal +. It’s a very weird accident, the timing was just terrible for both of us. Latifi and Stroll took 19th and 20th place respectively in qualifying.
Interrupted, the race was able to resume normally a few minutes later, after the evacuation of the two damaged drivers. In the end, it was Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) who qualified on pole position for Sunday’s race, two weeks after his second place in Saudi Arabia and three weeks after his victory in the first Grand Prix of the season, in Bahrain. In second and third positions, the two Red Bull drivers Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) will start from fifth position. The French Esteban Ocon (Alpine Renault) and Pierre Gasly (Alphatauri RBTP) take 8th and 11th place respectively.