F1 Mailbag: Why Lance Stroll was ‘upset' in Spain — and who'd rule at Mario Kart

New York Times

3 days ago

Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix offered no shortage of controversy and storylines as Formula One signed off from its second triple-header of the season with a bang.
Max Verstappen's collision with George Russell, an act the Mercedes driver believed to be deliberate, dominated the post-race headlines. It was a big moment in Verstappen's fading title defense, resulting in a time penalty that dropped him to 10th and a further sanction that has now left him on the verge of a one-race ban.
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Beyond Verstappen's move, which Lando Norris described as being from 'Mario Kart' in the cool-down room — we'll get to that in a bit — there was actually an F1 race still happening, won by Oscar Piastri to extend his lead at the top of the standings. But only 19 drivers took part after Lance Stroll's sudden withdrawal on Saturday night, with intrigue growing as more details emerged on Sunday.
There were plenty of questions to choose from for this week's mailbag, so let's get into them.
Editor's note: Questions have been lightly edited for clarity and brevity.
Any insider news on why Lance Stroll lashed out after Q2? What was he really upset about? How have senior figures on the team reacted to his outburst? — Jr.
Any idea/backstory on the driver who may take Stroll's seat while he's away? — Jack R.
Madeline and I were out for dinner with other journalists when Aston Martin's statement arrived late on Saturday night announcing that Stroll would withdraw from the Spanish Grand Prix. The team said he required a procedure, as he'd been managing pain in his wrist and hand for around six weeks, believed to date back to his preseason injury in 2023.
The first thought shared around the table as we filed stories on our phones was, 'That's odd, it's the first we've heard of it…' At no point in recent times had there been any mention from Stroll or the team that he'd been managing any problem.
Word then began to do the rounds in the paddock on Sunday that there'd been an outburst from Stroll upon returning to the garage at the end of Q2, where he'd been eliminated in 14th, lapping half a second slower than teammate Fernando Alonso to go 0-9 for the season in their qualifying head-to-head. An Aston Martin spokesperson confirmed that Stroll was 'upset' and that his emotion was unrelated to his injury.
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Aston Martin chief trackside officer Mike Krack spoke post-race, saying there was trust in the driver and his team to decide how manageable the pain was. 'Over the last weeks, there was a mention here or there, but you're never aware how much it is,' Krack said. 'Over the weekend, I think it was getting too much.'
When the theory that Stroll had smashed something on a table upon returning to the garage, potentially exacerbating the injury, was put to Krack, he laughed and pointed out he was on the pit wall at the time, adding: 'I have not heard anything like that. This is typical paddock gossip.'
Stroll and Aston Martin were incredibly secretive about his recovery process back in 2023, and I'd expect nothing different here. His status for the Canadian Grand Prix next weekend will remain a question mark until more details emerge about the required procedure and the potential recovery time.
Should Stroll be sidelined, the most obvious candidate to get the call-up is Felipe Drugovich, the 2022 Formula Two champion and Aston Martin's reserve driver. Drugovich is yet to make his F1 debut, and will drive in the 24 Hours of Le Mans next weekend with Action Express Racing. But if the chance to be called up for his grand prix debut comes along, the Brazilian will surely not let it pass by.
Luke Smith
What, exactly, does Max Verstappen have to do before he gets a penalty that actually means something? — Mike L.
Why was that only 10 for Max if George Russell got a drive-through in Monaco? I understand there were penalty points, but that seemed deliberate. — Jacob M.
Verstappen may not have directly apologized for the incident with Russell on Sunday, instead only stating in a social media post on Monday that it was 'not right.' But he did immediately apologize to his Red Bull team in the engineering debrief after the race, recognizing his actions had cost a result, even if their win chances had already passed thanks to the safety car.
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That gesture proves this penalty did at least sting Verstappen a bit. It's a blow to his title hopes, one that, as I wrote on Sunday, was entirely self-inflicted. A few factors built up to what happened at Turn 5, but it was Verstappen's action that cost him in the end.
There was a lot of discussion about the penalty itself and why the stewards only gave a 10-second time penalty for causing a collision. During Sky Sports' commentary, 2016 world champion Nico Rosberg was one of the voices calling for Verstappen to be shown a black flag and disqualified.
As The Athletic's Alex Kalinauckas wrote on Tuesday, they had plenty of options to choose from when picking a sanction. However, the slow-speed nature of the collision at Turn 5, combined with the fact that Russell still finished ahead of Verstappen, contributed to the decision to stick with the 10-second penalty.
The harsher drive-through penalty for Russell in Monaco for cutting a corner and not giving the place back to Alex Albon.was partly because the race director had specifically warned teams that such incidents would be looked at 'carefully' by the stewards. They also stated that Russell's radio message, where he told Mercedes he would not give the place back, proved it was a deliberate action.
'That communication also made it clear that the guideline penalty of 10 seconds may be insufficient for this deliberate infringement, and that the penalty applied may be a greater penalty than 10 seconds,' the stewards wrote in Monaco. When detailing Verstappen's penalty in Spain, the stewards said the collision was 'undoubtedly caused' by the Red Bull driver, but at no point did they use the word deliberate.
Luke Smith
With all the Mario Kart talk, what F1 drivers would you want to race the most and least against in the classic video game? — Anonymous U.
When I checked my phone after getting through security at Barcelona's airport, I had a Slack message from Luke about this question, followed by 'that is YOURS.' I have been wanting to do a story about playing Mario Kart with a professional driver — because Rainbow Road is hard, y'all. I have also asked a few drivers about this iconic game over the years, including Verstappen. The Dutchman said that 'it would get very competitive' if the drivers were to play against each other. Piastri told me in 2023 that he was a fan of Mario Kart when he was younger, but not so much now. But 'if I'm with friends, and we really want to play Mario Kart, then I'm not going to say no, of course.'
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I put a lot of thought into who I would like to race against the most and least in the video game, because I do love a good round of Mario Kart. It's fun and silly. And a majority of the grid I would want to race against, whether based on skill level or vibes. I'll limit it to the top three I'd like to race against: Verstappen, Ollie Bearman and Alex Albon.
Madeline Coleman
What did Sauber do differently this weekend? Did it introduce a ton of upgrades? Nice to see Nico Hülkenberg have a fighting chance. — J5N7Q47T82
Based on Sauber's season thus far and where Nico started the race, I doubt many people anticipated a fifth-place finish. The last time he finished in the top five was the 2019 Italian Grand Prix, and his highest race finish is P4, which has happened a few times, including the 2016 Belgian GP and 2013 Korean GP.
Hülkenberg was outqualified by teammate Gabriel Bortoleto and knocked out in Q1. With Stroll withdrawing from the race, the German driver lined up 15th on Sunday's grid. He had a strong start and began plucking his way through the field, gaining five positions in the first few laps.
Being out early in qualifying became an advantage of sorts because he had a slew of fresh tires. He started on a set of new soft tires and pitted early, coming in on Lap 9 for a set of medium tires. He pitted again on Lap 35 for soft tires, and he was running in points when the safety car was called at around Lap 55. Hülkenberg was fitted with another set of soft tires and maintained P8 when he rejoined the track.
At the restart, he was able to get past Isack Hadjar, but the big moment came when Hülkenberg overtook Hamilton for sixth. Hamilton was on a used soft tire, and Hülkenberg said the Ferrari driver was sliding. He said that moment shows 'how important and how powerful the tires are.'
Sauber did bring upgrades this weekend, ones it hoped would help with the car's balance and get more consistency. And it did just that. Team principal Jonathan Wheatley said after the race, 'I was just pleased that the upgrade did what we expected it to do, and the feedback from the drivers was consistent, and that we had a racing car under us today. It's the first time that I felt that since I've been here, and it's a great feeling. And I'm trying to stay in the moment a little bit before pressing on to the next race.'
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The team's only points up until this past weekend came from Australia, the season opener, and Hülkenberg's 10 points lifted the team level with Aston Martin, now sitting eighth in the constructor standings. I am curious about what is possible for Sauber this season. As Wheatley noted post-race on Sunday, Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is known for being 'a true test of a car's performance, and generally, a car that performs here well, performs well at a lot more circuits.'
Madeline Coleman
Where do Colapinto/Alpine go from here? — Jack R.
Before I break down how the last three races have gone for Franco Colapinto and where things stand, the bottom line is that there will be a new evaluation ahead of the British Grand Prix, which is in two races' time. This has been known since Alpine rotated the seats, swapping Jack Doohan for the Argentine. The teammate comparison is big, and Colapinto needs to be getting close to Pierre Gasly's pace. Even during Friday's FIA news conference after FP1, Flavio Briatore said, 'If Colapinto is performing, he's driving the car. If not, we'll see. 2025 is a year we need to prepare ourselves for 2026. So whatever experiment I need doing, we're doing. I don't know at this moment if Franco will stay for the season or not, but let's see. Depends on the performance.
'We're only looking at the performance — nothing else.'
His first race weekend with Alpine was at Imola — a challenging time. He crashed during qualifying, and he had a more conservative start on race day, losing positions in the first few corners after starting the race in 16th. He did not have the standout performances in Monaco that we saw in those early races at Williams in 2024 when he replaced Logan Sargeant. He qualified last but managed to finish 13th, despite his strategy. Colapinto started on the hard tire to help Gasly, given the mandatory two pit stops, but Gasly hit the back of Yuki Tsunoda's car during the race, resulting in a DNF for the Frenchman.
Spain was more familiar territory for Colapinto, as it is a traditional race circuit. But his struggles continued with him sitting at the bottom portions of the timing sheets during the three practice sessions. He had an issue with the car during qualifying, triggering a queue to form in the pit lane behind him during Q1 and preventing him from doing a final flying lap. Colapinto started P18 (last on the grid, given Tsunoda started from pit lane), and recovered to P15, stuck in traffic during the grand prix.
Colapinto just lacked pace and hasn't exactly shown his full potential yet. As Briatore said in his post-race comments, 'Franco's afternoon was always going to be tough starting at the back and had a disappointing race, not progressing as much as we hoped.'
Madeline Coleman