Stroll never thought Q3 was possible

2018 Italian Grand Prix

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Lance Stroll says he never thought Williams would be able to qualify in the top 10 during practice for the Italian Grand Prix.

The 19-year-old was eighth in Q2 and went on to qualify 10th on the grid for tomorrow’s race.

“I’m very surprised,” he admitted afterwards. “I wouldn’t have predicted that going into qualifying.”

“I expected Q2,” he added. “I thought we did a good job to get into Q2, but Q3 was never in my thoughts looking at all the practice sessions. But the sport’s full of surprises.”

Williams, which has only finished in the points once this year, expected to perform better at Monza where their car’s weaknesses are less apparent. However Stroll said his result wasn’t just down to the car suiting the track.

“It all came together,” he said. “Put a good lap in, we got a good tow, the car was better today than it has been for a long time. When all that comes together the results shows.”

“There’s still some limitations and we’re still struggling in a few areas,” he added. “I think the car was definitely more alive under me today and I could really work with it and use it.

“It’s always a great feeling as a driver when you’re looking for every little tenth and you can really have that relationship with a car. When you have that chemistry with a car it’s always really pleasant.”

However Stroll believes it will expects it will be difficult to score another points finish for the team in the race. “It’s definitely going to be challenging. I’ll have to make my car as wide as possible. Try and get a good jump off the line.”

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2018 F1 season

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12 comments on “Stroll never thought Q3 was possible”

  1. Definitely the biggest surprise of the session.

    1. I dunno. Kimi winning pole in the final sector of all places……

      1. I don’t either. Seemed like Kimi was doing what he was towed.

        ;-)

  2. Stroll is a good driver just not very good taking corners. Give him a track with fewer corners and he starts to shine!/!

    1. His onboards show him to be very ‘nervous’ when taking corners with many micro moves. @dusty

  3. Lance, your car obviously works well for you, stick with it this year and the next.

  4. Am I the only one who wasn’t shocked by this? Monza is the one track Williams had a legitimate shot at Q3 and one of their drivers made it. It’s the most power-reliant track on the schedule. You don’t need a good chassis and aero isn’t that big a deal there if you have a good power unit, which Williams has. If Stroll or Sirotkin make Q3 in Singapore, I’ll be a lot more surprised and impressed.

  5. To say that we didn’t expect it either is a mild understatement.

  6. “Dusty” may be on to something.
    If the Williams (The Evil Car Team) becomes more manageable at tracks like Monza where it is power and braking, with less influence of cornering speed on lap time, does this not point to the rear wing aero as being a part of the cause of the instability. Take the wing off or reduce it, and the package seems to work better. Hmmmmmm.
    Singapore is different but it is still very much a point and shoot …. dodge the wall kind of track. They could do well there.
    For now, the challenge will be getting past the first lap Sunday. I can see Grosjean with a targeting sight on the front of the Halo. Notice how no-one is calling it a Thong any longer and the advertising has been stopped too. Conspiracy.??

    1. @rekibsn: Possibly because since Spa, the Todt Safety Thong just sounds wrong. Maybe we can just call it the TST device.

  7. Hopefully this will encourage Williams to believe both cars could finish in the points.

    1. You MUST be psychic …. but then you knew that.
      Good call. Do you have a Haas Doll with pins sticking in it.??

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