Explained: Lance Stroll's heavy crash at "odd" corner which flummoxes drivers

Lance Stroll has emerged unhurt from a big crash during second practice at the F1 Dutch Grand Prix.

The Aston Martin driver appeared to take too much speed into the banked Turn 3 and slammed into the barriers, causing significant damage to the right-hand side of his car.

Stroll emerged unscathed from his wrecked Aston Martin but the accident caused FP2 to be red-flagged.

The Canadian had to miss the Spanish Grand Prix after experiencing pain in his hands - a legacy of an operation following a cycling accident in February 2023 in which he broke both his wrists.

In a relief for Aston Martin, Stroll confirmed he was “fine” over team radio.

Stroll finished a surprise third-fastest ahead of teammate Fernando Alonso in opening practice at Zandvoort earlier on Friday.

Lance Stroll’s accident analysed

Sky Sports F1 pundit Karun Chandhok noted it was the same corner where Daniel Ricciardo broke his hand in a similar crash two years ago.

“That’s the corner where Daniel Ricciardo broke his hand,” Chandhok said.

“My point is: it’s a place with high G, the barrier isn’t far from the track.

“Sixth gear, turned right into T3. It went in with a lot of speed and the front didn’t turn.

“He carried the understeer. The two Ferraris were further round so I don’t think that’s the issue. He just locked up the front.

“I think it’s because he was going so fast, a bit of over-ambition.”

Fellow Sky F1 pundit and 1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve described the corner as “odd” and “very tricky”.

“It’s a tough corner because the angle changes, from banking to the other. The driver feels it in his steering wheel because the inside wheel, the inside front, gets off the ground a bit.

“So he thinks ‘there is no grip’ and he turns heavily. Suddenly, it grabs.

“He got caught out. That’s the thing with back corners. Normally you have a lot of lines. You can go high or low.

“When you go high, you have more distance to go round.

“Normally with a banking corner, when you go high, you go up the hill, as you turn in, so it slows you down. You gradually get into the line.

“When you exit you are coming from a higher ground, and you accelerate out of the corner almost in a straight line.

“If you go on the low line, you pick up speed, then lose some.

“This corner is odd because it doesn’t climb. It goes deep. Drivers cannot use the inside line.

“They go wide, it’s not the perfect balance through the right-hander before it. There is no way that they can make the apex. It’s the way that it’s been designed.

“They have to shoot for the top because the inside of the track drops. The car gets light, the inside wheel gets off the ground, suddenly it picks up grip again.

“It is a very tricky corner. The outside line is the only possible line.

“It is counter intuitive to drive such a high line, close to the wall, and wait for the banking to slow you down and grab the car. Sometimes you get caught out.”