“He was very good,” Aston Martin team principal praises Lance Stroll’s performance in Canada despite getting poor result
Lance Stroll has received a pat on the back from Mike Krack for his P9 finish in his home race.
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Lance Stroll (Via Motorsport.com)
Lance Stroll has been under the radar recently for his performances so far in the 2023 F1 season. After a few tough years, Aston Martin finally came into this season with a car that has the capabilities to fight at the top. Whilst Fernando Alonso has gone on to take out every inch of performance from the car, Lance seems unable to replicate the same actions.
The Canadian GP weekend was a bit of a disappointing one for the home hero. Lance Stroll did not tend to impress in a rain guzzled qualifying as he went on to qualify P16 for the race. Meanwhile, teammate Fernando Alonso was right there in the front row starting alongside Max Verstappen. It was not looking good on the Canadian so far. After fighting through the midfield, Lance was able to score some points in the end.
The Canadian crossed the checkered flag in P9 ahead of Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas in what was an extremely close finish. The duo were set apart by approximately 0.030 seconds. However, this still brought out questions regarding Aston Martin’s future. With Lance Stroll not being able to match Fernando Alonso’s current performances, it has put the team at a disadvantage.
Mike Krack applauds Lance Stroll for his P9 finish in Canada
In an interview, here is what the Aston Martin team principal had to say. “[In qualifying] he struggled with grip and if you struggle like that and you don’t have the confidence, then it is very difficult,” he said. “And [in the race], I think he drove really well. We took him out of traffic and when he was out of traffic, he managed the lap times of the frontrunners on the hard. But if you are in this DRS train, it’s really hard to come from 16th to 9th, I think it’s a great achievement,” he continued.
“Now on paper it looks only ninth and your team-mate finishes second, and you think it’s not a good performance. But, when you see where you come from, I think he was very good,” he stated. Mike also went on to talk about Lance’s qualifying abilities. “[Qualifying] is key for everybody. You’ve seen other cars, also quick cars like Sergio [Perez], it’s hard to come back to the front,” Krack added.
Lance Stroll’s horrid season so far is definitely hurting Aston Martin in their fight for P2 in the constructors standings. While Max Verstappen and Red Bull have been sitting comfortably at the top, such is not the case below. Mercedes seems to be itchingly close to Aston in terms of pace. However, it will be interesting to see what happens in the upcoming races where the teams will be bringing more upgrades.
In case you missed it:
- “Really, really good feeling,” Charles Leclerc declares Canadian GP Friday as his best F1 outing in 2023
- “I can be great at anything,” Lewis Hamilton reveals how he silenced an angry Niki Lauda to pursue endeavors outside of F1
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Varad Joshi
(940 Articles Published)