Motorsport

LANCE STROLL destroyed his Aston Martin after losing a wheel in a 150mph crash that was “beyond scary to watch” during qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix.Viewers were “amazed” the F1 ace could walk away without serious injury after slamming into a barrier on his final lap of Q1.
Lance Stroll’s spectacular crash horrified fans at the Marina Bay Street Circuit in Singapore as well as TV viewersCredit: AFP
The Canadian leapt clear following his barrier smash in Q1Credit: AFP
Viewers were amazed and relieved Stroll was able to walk freeCredit: EPA
Track workers remove the debris of Stroll’s car, including a front wheelCredit: AFP
The Canadian saw his front left wheel ripped off and much of the chassis on the same side crushed in a smash that delayed a thrilling qualifying session by 34 minutes.
Stroll had lost control as he veered to the left, with his car spinning in the opposite direction and into the barrier.
The debris almost took out Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
Replays revealed Stroll was sent rocking around his cockpit by the high-speed impact.
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But the 24-year-old appeared unscathed as he got out – after being protected by recent extra safety features for his car.
He said afterwards: “It was really bad. We had a bad outlap with traffic and there was no temperature in the tyres. There was no grip.
“I thought we were going out and I tried to push to make up some time, but it didn’t work out.”
It came as Max Verstappen’s chances of extending his and Red Bull’s winning run suffered a huge blow, with Carlos Sainz taking pole.
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But relieved viewers were more focused on Stroll’s escape.
One fan posted, “Holy hell that was wild” and another wrote: “Crazy how those curbs can send a car spinning.”
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A third summed up the reaction of many observers: “Those cockpits are incredible how strong they are honestly, and to think people were against halos as well.”
Meanwhile, Verstappen is chasing an 11th straight victory – with his Red Bull team winning EVERY race so far this season.
But a shocker for the Dutchman and another poor performance from teammate Sergio Perez mean they start down in 11th and 13th place respectively.
Verstappen was livid and stomped from his car to the team’s garage in a huff after complaining about the car’s handling.
It was the first time no Red Bull car had reached the top 10 since the Russian Grand Prix in 2018.
He now has his work cut out if he is to maintain his winning record, especially with Sainz looking spectacularly quick.
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The Spanish driver, who was third last out in Italy, was 0.072 seconds quicker than George Russell, who qualified in second place.
Charles Leclerc will line up in third place while Norris was fourth and Lewis Hamilton fifth.
Max Verstappen was gutted to miss out on poleCredit: Getty More

COSTING £300million and designed to bring Formula 1 to a whole new audience, this 120,000 capacity race track was not short on ambition.But after just four Grand Prix it was abandoned with rubbish left to rot in the bins and the whole thing declared a ‘spectacular flop’.
South Korea tried to become a big part of Formula One back in 2010Credit: Getty
They developed the Korea International Circuit in Yeongam, South JeollaCredit: Getty
The track cost a whopping £300m to build and only held four F1 racesCredit: Getty
The track was built in South Korea and made its debut 13 years ago.
Back in 2010 the first ever Korean Grand Prix was held in Yeongam in the hopes of increasing the profile of F1 in Asia.
1,000 acres of rice paddies were torn up to make way for a new 120,000 person capacity Formula One venue.
But it was an unsuccessful venture with the track only hosting four F1 races and and the venue now left to rot.
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The 3.5-mile circuit didn’t have any problems in it’s design and was entertaining with challenging corners and two straights for overtaking.
But its location and the country’s lack of passion for the sport was its ultimate downfall.

The Korean International Circuit was built over 200 miles from the capital of South Korea, Seoul, which made it tricky for fans to make the long journey.
And not only that but there was also an unfamiliarity with the sport from Korean nationals.
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The track was built miles from anything significant and it was difficult for fans to attendCredit: Getty
In a bid to draw eyes to F1, K-Pop star Psy attended the Korean Grand PrixCredit: AFP
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In fact it’s reported that many didn’t even understand what F1 was and confused it as a branch of K-1, a mixed martial arts competition popular in Asia.
And it was a pretty expensive mistake too with the track ultimately costing over £300million to build – effectively £75million per F1 race and that’s without running costs and annual fees.
It wasn’t what was intended by any means and Park Bong-soon, former Formula One director of support for the venue admitted expectations weren’t met in an interview with the New York Times.
He said: “We started with a big dream of making lots of money, instead we ended up with a spectacular flop.”
The four Grand Prix’s held in South Korea between 2010 and 2013 were dominated by Sebastian Vettel.
The German won three races whilst the 2010 event was captured by Fernando Alonso.
But following the 2013 Grand Prix it all came to an end and after a few years of the track being used for smaller local racing it has now been left abandoned.
There were problems during races too with the track used so little in between events that it was reported teams found rotting rubbish in the bins from the previous year’s Grand Prix.
The track is no longer used with its last race taking place in 2013Credit: Getty
The venue held over 120,000 peopleCredit: Getty
Sebastian Vettel dominated the races that took place in South KoreaCredit: EPA More