WILL Stevens was left counting the cost of contact with Roman Grosjean following the Canadian GP.

Rochford-born Manor Marussia F1 driver Stevens' race at Montreal was on schedule until he made contact with the Frenchman's Lotus on lap 50 at the Circuit de Gilles Villeneuve.

It forced an unscheduled pitstop and saw the former Thorpe Hall pupil finish in 17th place, with Steven's Spanish team-mate Roberto Mehri retiring.

“After a good start I was having a really strong race, managing to get ahead of my team-mate despite a problem with the front left in the pit stop, which lost us quite a bit of time," said Stevens, who grew up in Hadleigh.

"After that my race was going pretty much according to our one-stop plan and then on lap 50 I was hit by Grosjean as he was passing me, which was a little surprising as I left him so much room.

"It was an unnecessary accident and one which required another pit stop for front wing damage. The wing was snapped clean in two."

But Stevens was still upbeat as he completed his fifth GP of the season.

"All that aside, it’s been a stronger weekend for us here," he said.

"It’s a shame we had our first retirement with Roberto’s car, but that was a good long run compared to other teams and I’m sure we’ll have things sorted for Austria.”

Manor heads to Spielberg in 20th place in the drivers' championship having yet to score a point.

World champion and pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton won the race with Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg second. Williams' Valtteri Bottas claimed the final podium position.

The Austrian GP at the Red Bull Ring is on June 21.