Lance Stroll is hoping the improved form Aston Martin showed at Zandvoort last weekend indicates he will have chances to score his first podium this year before the season is over.
His team mate Fernando Alonso scored his seventh podium finish of the season to date at Zandvoort a week ago. Stroll’s best result so far this year is a single fourth place in the Australian Grand Prix.The team experienced a dip in form before the summer break but Alonso’s second place finish in the Dutch Grand Prix indicated they still have the potential to beat the likes of Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren.
Stroll’s said he’s “not really focusing too much” on his chances of ending his podium drought, but believes “if we just execute and stick to the process and have clean weekends when we’re competitive, it can happen.”
“I just really feel like the opportunities this year where the car was on for it, on more competitive tracks, we just didn’t really execute those weekends and therefore missed out on those opportunities,” he said in response to a question from RaceFans.
“But I hope now we’re back in position, after the last few races it looked like in Zandvoort we were more competitive, and we can start being in that position more often to try and get on that podium.”
“The most likely realistic chance of getting on the podium is to stick to the process of what we’re doing and just kind of keep working away every single weekend,” he added. “That’s kind of the most likely chance of it happening.
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“To focus too much on it, I don’t think it’s really going to make a difference. Whether we focus on getting a podium or not I think it’s really about executing and chipping away at every weekend and trying to get the most out of it.”
While Alonso lies third in the championship on 168 points with only the two Red Bull drivers ahead of him, stroll is ninth on just 47 – less than a quarter of Aston Martin’s total.
“We’ve missed a lot of big chances this year when the car’s been competitive to pull out some good results,” he admitted. “Some weekends we kind of did have good races, but the car wasn’t as competitive to finish in on those podium positions.
“So I would say really just executing, that’s been the biggest thing this year. Getting it done and not making little strategy errors on Saturday, Sundays and kind of just putting it all together I think is, you know what we’ve got to focus on.”
Stroll’s last podium finish came at the Sakhir Grand Prix in 2020. He is confident he can end his drought before the end of the year.
“I feel generally if the car is under me to do it and the right set-up, whatever, everything is in place, I’ll do it. I don’t doubt that.”
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roodda (@roodda)
1st September 2023, 8:27
Replace “we” with “I”
Andy (@andycz)
1st September 2023, 8:27
No Lance, not we. You missed a lot of big chances this year…
Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
1st September 2023, 10:51
Great use of the Royal We. As in “we’ve crashed!”
Sham (@sham)
1st September 2023, 8:29
Such a shame that a prime seat is wasted.
Not the first, and not the last waste of a seat, but Aston Martins designers, engineers, strategists, pit crew and management deserve to see a better driver getting better results from all their hard work.
PMccarthy_is_a_legend (@pmccarthy_is_a_legend)
1st September 2023, 12:14
@sham Actually I think this works well at the moment. Alonso functions better as the main man in the team, and Lance is no threat to him. If Lance starts to beat Alonso then it’s a clear sign that’s time for Alonso to retire.
Meanwhile the big boss Stroll is happy his son is in F1.
Yes the team will leave points on the table, a better second driver and they could potentially be fighting mercedes for second in the constructors but tbh 2nd or 3rd really is immaterial to Aston Martin.
Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
1st September 2023, 8:46
Fernando is driving his boots off to put that car where no one expected it to be.
He can only do it because the entire team is giving him the support he needs to be able to do it.
Who is this “we” that you are referring to Lance?
Peter
1st September 2023, 8:55
Hi
His father would have fired the driver or any employee performing at his level without thinking twice , very corporate rules and policies until it comes close to home.
Todfod (@todfod)
1st September 2023, 10:02
I wonder how long Aston Martin’s investors will just stay quiet while Lawrence Stroll’s son destroys all the value that could be created for the team. This team could have been P2 in the WCC if they had even a half decent driver in that 2nd seat. They’re already losing prize money, brand recognition (since only one car gets the coverage) and eventually they’ll start losing the respect of the paddock as no team with Lance as their driver is actually serious about winning.
It’s going to come down to either Papa Stroll being fired by the board, or Baby Stroll being fired by his dad.
MichaelN
1st September 2023, 17:13
Or it just keeps going like this for a while yet until Lance calls it quits and does an MBA. Lance Stroll isn’t a bad driver. He’s not as good as Alonso, and has scored only 28% of his points. Lackluster? Sure. Unprecedented? Räikkönen got 34% in 2014… and he was a world champion.
At some point they’ll want to a better driver, but hiring Alonso also indicates they’re still very much building this team. They’re learning all they can from him, like they did from Vettel. Now there’s definitely a risk that they misjudge their progress and waste their once-in-a-lifetime chance to fight for the title whilst held back by their drivers. It could happen. But at the same time, where they are now it’s tough for them to attract that rare young talent that could become a team leader to spearhead a potential/eventual title campaign.
Adam (@rocketpanda)
1st September 2023, 9:02
“We’ve lost a lot of big chances this year” – what, all of them? Mate there was nothing wrong with the car or the team, just with the driver. If you were in any other team we’d have been discussing your potential replacements – in fact you’re doing *so* poorly, we still are! I don’t know how people can say he’s still learning or to give him time considering the amount of experience he has in F1 and how long he’s been here, consistently underperforming and consistently getting clapped by his team-mates. Should have been long gone years ago.
S
1st September 2023, 9:31
And the Stroll bashing games have commenced again.
Come on people – he’s speaking as a member of a team. A team that, without him, almost certainly wouldn’t be as close to the front as it currently is, with either driver.
Todfod (@todfod)
1st September 2023, 10:17
Without him or his dad?
S
1st September 2023, 10:53
They come as a package.
tielemst
1st September 2023, 10:17
Good chance it wouldn’t even exist without him.
SjaakFoo (@sjaakfoo)
1st September 2023, 13:43
You assume nobody else would’ve bought the team, which is unlikely to begin with, but let’s assume this is the case then. How much longer do we have to endure Lance before our apparent debt to Lawrence is paid?
Coventry Climax
1st September 2023, 14:18
Correct. Even if, I repeat: even if the team hadn’t been bought at all, by anyone, which is highly unlikely, that would still have made room for another team. There’s no way of telling how other owners might have done, and there’s no way of telling how a new, different team might have done.
One thing we can be pretty sure of though, is that Lance would not have been part of it, with a near certainty of at least not for the same lengthy period of time.
S
1st September 2023, 15:15
I didn’t – but even if someone did, all I “assumed” was that their results would be less impressive than they are now – be that due to lower financial investment, less accomplished drivers, or any number of other reasons.
Exactly what debt is owed to you?
If a wealthy guy being involved with an F1 team and having his way with it is offensive to you, maybe F1 is not your best option.
It’s not the first time this sort of thing has happened… Actually, it’s pretty common…
MichaelN
1st September 2023, 17:20
None of us are a party in this, and nobody owes the viewers anything. Lawrence Stroll can do whatever he wants, because he’s the guy with the cash.
Whatever else is true of the Strolls, who do indeed come as a package, is that Lawrence Stroll has been serious about investing in the team to position it to be a consistent feature on the sharp end of the grid.
McLaren hasn’t. Williams hasn’t. Haas never will. Not even Alpine (Renault) has. Sauber obviously couldn’t, and we’ll see if Audi is willing to do so. But Stroll & Aston Martin did.
So even if someone had been willing to buy the remains of the Force India team, chances are they’d be one of those outfits who are just making up the numbers in F1 and profiting from the guaranteed commercial rights payout that’s earned due the global appeal generated by handful of serious teams at the front.
Chris Horton
1st September 2023, 11:32
You’ve missed them, no one else.
Edvaldo
1st September 2023, 13:23
168 x 47.
I’d say Alonso must have missed one or two chances. You’ve lost them all.
Maciek (@maciek)
1st September 2023, 13:29
Actually his 47 points to Alonso’s 168 is more than a quarter: it’s one 3rd and 27/47ths. Clearly a slanderous piece about one of f1’s rising talents who’s just been a tad unlucky and hampered by mistakes made together with other people on the team, just like he said.
Leroy (@g-funk)
1st September 2023, 13:47
I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic or not. But with respect to the point tally, the article said he was less than one-quarter of Aston Martin’s point total, not Alonso’s. Which is correct. 47 divided by 215 is less than one quarter.
Maciek (@maciek)
1st September 2023, 14:17
Ah indeed, indeed. But seriously you can’t tell if I’m being sarcastic? Don’t you believe that Lance is just about to turn the corner and astound the f1 world with his hitherto untapped potential?
Leroy (@g-funk)
1st September 2023, 15:51
There are a number of Lance stans out there and it’s sometimes hard to tell who is being sarcastic and who is a stan. But I am getting the drift now that you were indeed being sarcastic. Even the most stan-y of stans couldn’t say that Lance has hitherto untapped potential 😂
Jockey Ewing
1st September 2023, 13:55
Sorry accidentally reported.
Although:
47/168 = (42/168) + (5/168) = 1/4 + 5/168 ≈ 1/3 – 2517857/47000000 ≈≈ 1/3 – 25/470
Jockey Ewing
1st September 2023, 13:57
The point is, it is at about twice as close to 1/4 than to 1/3
Coventry Climax
1st September 2023, 14:20
The point is, you’ve missed the point altogether. Like Lance.
Jockey Ewing
1st September 2023, 15:50
Goodbye then 😉💋
Dane
1st September 2023, 15:13
I’m not really focused on the podiums blah blah blah
Maybe the lack of focus is why you aren’t getting Alonso’s results Lance?
melanos
1st September 2023, 16:30
Great result in Zandvoort for Fred but has really AM bounced back?
The rain is a great mech equaliser so Zandvoort was a driver’s race, but I doubt that the AM is suddenly second best car again. It is Fred who is way better than the rest of the drivers bar Max.
But I maybe wrong. Monza in the dry will tell.
Dale
2nd September 2023, 11:33
Translated from rich boy language, he said “I’m out of my depth, but daddy’s paying so hey”.