Lance Stroll said a number of factors combined to create the circumstances in which he crashed at the end of Q1 in today’s qualifying session.
The Aston Martin driver suffered a heavy front on impact with a barrier at the final corner as he tried to improve his lap time and secure a place in Q2.“It all happened quickly,” he told media including RaceFans. “I know why I crashed, it was just because I wasn’t going fast enough to get through and therefore I tried to really fire it.”
Stroll said he had been put at a disadvantage early in the session when he was held up by Logan Sargeant. “We got impeded in the first round and then that puts you on the back foot because you don’t have a lap on the board,” he said.
“I got impeded by Sargeant, and then we had to do the lap [time] on the second lap. But it’s really just a one-lap tyre and we got impeded halfway through the lap. Then we went again, so the tyres not as good.”
He lost more time when he was called at random to have his car weighed between runs. “I got a call to the weighbridge, so then we were at the back of the queue.”
His preparation for his final laps was disrupted as several cars slowed in the chicane at the end of the lap. “I heard from my engineer that time was running out and we had to get to the flag.
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“So you’re trying to pass all these cars and then you’re starting the lap two seconds behind a car in front, which is not optimal at all. So it’s like I said, it’s all those things compounding it.
“Then when everything compounds and you see that your lap time’s not good enough to go through, that’s when I risked in the last corner to see if I could magically make up a couple of tenths and scrape through, and didn’t end well.”
Stroll was concerned he wasn’t going to be quick enough to reach Q2 as he approached the final corners. “We just weren’t really improving on that last lap with the out-lap being really bad, a lot of traffic, a lot of guys trying to make the line at the end,” he said.
“I started my lap two seconds behind, I think it was one of the Alpines [Pierre Gasly], which is really not ideal for kind of aero performance and I was just not really improving my lap time much to get through to Q2. So I sent it in the last corner, tried to make up some time and it’s not really do-able.”
“Having a car two seconds in front is really bad for aero,” he added, “you just lose tons of downforce with that around here with the funnelling of the walls, especially.”
While his team mate Fernando Alonso extended his run of reaching Q3 in every qualifying session this year, Stroll crash means he has failed to get into the final 10 more often than not.
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“Once I realised everything was okay, it was just shitty because we had a rough session and it’s been rough lately, for a while now,” he said. “I was feeling good after FP3 but quali just didn’t go our way at all with bad out-laps, traffic, poor tyre preparation and around here when those things pile up it’s just such a negative spiral.
“Then because of that, the result of that was having [a] crash. So I think just a very frustrating session and tough for the guys too because they have to build a new car for tomorrow and not what we want.”
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NoelyNoel (@noelynoel)
16th September 2023, 17:58
You can list as many excuses as you like, but you crashed because you overcooked it over the kerb in the last corner, Lance.
James
16th September 2023, 18:21
He literally admits to taking a risk on the final corner, the other things he mentions are relevant because you don’t drive like that when you have already set a representative time
Dex
16th September 2023, 20:53
It was a representative time, because he’s been driving like that before this lap too. It’s not like was any faster. He was last in AM, for God sake. Also, he does mention what you say, but he doesn’t take any responsibility for not setting a better time. And if he’s got any wisdom inside his head, he’ll know that you can’t decide to just drive faster, you can only drive the best you can or slower than that; there’s no way to compensate by just “going faster”. Silly excuses. Although, I wonder why nobody asks people from AM to comment on his performance deficit and why did they keep him, or even better yet, what is it that he has to do to deserve a new contract. What is the minimum that is expected of him. They do ask similar questions to managers of other teams.
Ivan B (@njoydesign)
16th September 2023, 21:25
Wasn’t he last because he got impeded by Sargent on his previous attempt?
Dex
17th September 2023, 1:09
It seems he’s always impeded though… His whole career, except for two or three races.
Lorn Low
16th September 2023, 22:35
Stroll should thank his billionaire daddy every day. His father is the ONLY reason we have to endure watching him underachieve and screw up in F1.
Armchair Expert (@armchairexpert)
16th September 2023, 18:15
Also the fact Lance Stroll was born led to the crash today.
Edvaldo
16th September 2023, 18:16
It was probably Marcus Ericsson that hit you.
Jere (@jerejj)
16th September 2023, 18:21
I can understand the impediment & weighbridge stoppage as contributors to hurrying & preparation getting affected.
However, Gasly was more than two seconds ahead towards the lap’s end, nowhere to be seen, so the dirty air claim seems an excuse.
Nevertheless, a pit exit start for him as a monocoque change seems inevitable, or I’d be surprised if they somehow could fix the car without needing to change that.
Coventry Climax
16th September 2023, 18:47
Fortunately, Mike Krack and the team are still very happy with Lance’s performance, and there’s no doubt Alonso sees the pile of bad luck leading to this.
No worries, Lance, you’re doing fine.
Dex
16th September 2023, 20:48
Well, if only you could be born as the weighbridge’s son, everything would be different.
Jockey Ewing
16th September 2023, 22:37
Sorry for trolling, but from this angle the car on the photo reminds me something…
mmm, this shape and the rich and mysterious smoke effect behind, a perfect car revealing/launch show.
Actually I saved this picture for home use, and I baptized it by the filename of “Lance_Stroll’s_Formula_Vee”.
Pod
17th September 2023, 7:10
“I was behind so I fired it in, in the hopes of magically finding a couple of tenths.”
That says it all, really.
Can you imagine Alain Prost or Jacky Stewart ever saying that?
SteveP
17th September 2023, 8:52
No, but I can imagine James Hunt saying it – with a cheeky grin after having, somehow, succeeded. Girl on each arm, walks away…