Lance Stroll’s blunt radio message after crash ends his Saudi Arabian GP

Lance Stroll’s crash which ended his F1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix was put down to a “small mistake” by the Aston Martin boss.

Stroll’s race came to a premature end on the sixth lap when he clipped a corner, lost control and hit the barrier.

"Hit the wall,” he said via team radio.

He was asked: "Can you bring it back?"

Stroll replied: "No... I'm in the f****** wall."

The son of Lawrence Stroll, the team owner, later reflected: "A disappointing way to conclude a good weekend.

“I’d been pushing really hard in those opening laps – the cars around us were definitely faster and the tyres were already struggling.

“I was trying to build a gap and just clipped the wall.

"There are positives to take away, the team has scored points in both races and we feel there’s more pace to unlock in the car.

“I’m already looking ahead to Australia – it’s a race and a country that I really enjoy and I’m sure we can pick up the momentum again."

Mike Krack, Aston Martin team principal, said: “Unfortunately, a small mistake from Lance came with a high price.

“This is an unforgiving street circuit and all that matters in such situations is Lance is OK.

“Both drivers were under a lot of pressure at the start and had to push very hard for position.”

Fernando Alonso was able to bring home some points for Aston Martin with a P5 finish.

"I'm very happy with finishing fifth in today's race,” Alonso said.

“I think finishing in front of one McLaren, one Ferrari and both Mercedes is a great result for the team and probably around the maximum we can achieve at the moment.

"It was intense from start to finish and I had George [Russell] so close behind for most of the race.

“We went into the unknown a little bit with over 40 laps on the Hard set of tyres but we managed it all well and were able to make the one-stop strategy work.

“We will keep chasing for more performance and focus on the long term as it's a very long season ahead."

Krack added: "A strong drive from Fernando and 10 points for the team.”