Lance Stroll’s detractors should take note of the commitment he showed when he crashed at the end of Q1 yesterday, says his team principal Mike Krack.
The Aston Martin driver will not take part in today’s Singapore Grand Prix following his high-speed shunt into the barrier at the final corner.Stroll said yesterday he had “sent it at the last corner” because he could see from his dash display that he was on course to miss the cut to reach Q2. He has faced criticism for his performances this year having failed to reach Q3 in more than half of races while his teammate Fernando Alonso has never failed to qualify in the top ten.
Krack said those who criticise Stroll should give him credit for the commitment he showed in trying to avoid his third Q1 elimination this year.
“It’s proof that he’s full-in, to all the guys that are thinking he’s not,” said Krack. “To go into this corner at that speed you have to have some commitment, and I think this is another proof that he fully has it.”
He does not believe Stroll’s confidence will be dented by the crash. “Lance is very strong, he is much, much stronger than you think,” said Krack.
“You have seen him in the TV pen yesterday after this so I’m not concerned at all that there would be anything. He will go in the car and he will be fast.”
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
Although Stroll will not take the start today, having qualified last, Krack says there’s “zero” chance he’ll miss next week’s race at Suzuka.
Krack said the decision to withdraw Stroll’s car was taken following a discussion between himself, Tom McCullough, Dan Fallows and Andy Stevenson. “This morning he felt not 100%, so we had a discussion together with Tom, with Andy and Dan and we decided together to not race today,” he explained.
Although Stroll was cleared to participate by the FIA yesterday, Krack said he still has some soreness in his neck. “If you have an incident like that, you have to think that you stress your muscle like that.
“It’s like if you spend a very hard day in the gym, then you feel not great. So this is where we’re at, and I think it’s the right decision to be ready for Japan because it’s already in a couple of days’ time.“
The team fell behind Ferrari to fourth in the constructors’ championship at the last race. With their rivals’ cars starting first and third today and Aston Martin only represented by Fernando Alonso, they are at risk of dropping further behind.
Krack admitted the points situation is a concern “but the most important thing is that he’s fine and everything else is secondary.”
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
“Now with the decision made, we focus on the afternoon and on the points, then Fernando has to score more,” he added.
Stroll said yesterday his qualifying run had been compromised when he was held up by Logan Sargeant, then couldn’t find a clear space to start his final lap. Aston Martin’s technical director Dan Fallows said they will look into what they can do to avoid similar situations in the future.
“There was a sequence of events for Lance,” he said. “On his very first attempt Sargeant – even though Lance had let him through as he was completing his lap – Sargeant was obviously rushing to get back in and elected to block Lance on his timed lap all the way to turn seven-eight, to the point that Lance was right behind him. Ultimately, the stewards reviewed that and elected just to give a reprimand there.
“Lance came into the pits and got weighbridged. Of course with such a short time we do allow for the weighbridge.
“We did get out again but with all the queuing in the pit lane that obviously Verstappen and a few other people did, the consequences of that is at the end of the out-lap everybody’s bunched up in sector three as often happens here. Then it’s just chaos, people jumping for gaps.
“Lance started his lap 1.6 seconds from Gasly in front, which around here is very difficult to set a lap and we can see from the car data he had a huge amount of downforce loss throughout that lap due to that.
“So really that was a hiding to [nothing]. So from our side we’re going to review and see how we can put him in a better place, try to foresee all the circumstances that happened and give him a shot at doing a clean lap.”
Bringing the F1 news from the source
RaceFans strives to bring its readers news directly from the key players in Formula 1. We are able to do this thanks in part to the generous backing of our RaceFans Supporters.
By contributing 1 per month or 12 per year (or the equivalent in other currencies) you can help cover the costs involved in producing original journalism: Travelling, writing, creating, hosting, contacting and developing.
We have been proudly supported by our readers for over 10 years. If you enjoy our independent coverage, please consider becoming a RaceFans Supporter today. As a bonus, all our Supporters can also browse the site ad-free. Sign up or find out more via the links below:
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
2023 Singapore Grand Prix
- Singapore and Austin retirements cost me top 10 championship place – Ocon
- How Ocon’s “extreme” height for an F1 driver is helping other tall racers
- Steward’s admission Verstappen should have had penalty frustrates his rivals
- Drivers back Singapore qualifying tweak as rule changes again for Japanese GP
- Piastri “much more comfortable” at new circuits than at start of rookie season
t1redmonkey (@t1redmonkey)
17th September 2023, 11:16
I guess that’s one way to put a positive spin on it.
OOliver
17th September 2023, 14:18
Having a Krack at it.
falken (@falken)
17th September 2023, 20:35
He’s not going to say the bosses sin is shit us he!
Joe (@jb784)
17th September 2023, 11:25
I’m not concerned by his commitment; it’s his talent that is the problem.
Look at AMR trying to spin a positive story from him wrecking the car. Not good enough.
Rick
17th September 2023, 13:46
Well said. I’m confident all F1 drivers are fully committed or they wouldn’t be in the seat. It’s Stroll’s talent level that concerns me. Daddy can’t buy that for him
BasCB (@bascb)
18th September 2023, 11:22
Exactly.
José Silva
17th September 2023, 12:39
Pastor Maldonado and Andrea de Cesaris were incredibly committed too
Sviat
17th September 2023, 12:47
Krack, you can find another job in F1. Easily. Stop this nonsense.
Dale
17th September 2023, 12:50
Proof that he’s not fit for any team that wants to be a contender.
With the money Aston Martin are going to lose for not finishing a realistic second, plus what papa has spent on buying Lance a factory team and years of race seats, F1 practice cars, and junior race teams built around him … this must go into the Guinness Book of Records as the most expensive child hobby in history.
Edvaldo
17th September 2023, 15:13
I would like to know Gunther Steiner’s take on this.
AndrewT (@andrewt)
17th September 2023, 15:36
Realizing that no matter how hard you push that you won’t ever make up for the time already lost on that lap (that’s exactly what he said to the press), and still pushing like you had a chance to turn that around, doesn’t sound commitment to me.
I’m still looking for the right word for causing a material damage of hundreds of thousands dollars, for letting down a team of hundreds putting in serious hours for you to have the car in the best condition, and to rob the team a chance of a comeback drive from the lower end of the grid with an intact machine.
This is not the attitude someone with 7 seasons behind him should have.
DaveW (@dmw)
17th September 2023, 15:56
Mike Krack showing full commitment to keeping his job.
Todfod (@todfod)
18th September 2023, 4:53
It’s a shame where the primary authority figure in team has to play nice to the boss’s incompetent son. This has got to be the most ridiculous statement I’ve heard from any team principal ever. How can the worst qualifying lap of the weekend, which included a high speed crash garner praise for commitment??
I feel bad for every employee of Aston Martin racing. Having Lance Stroll in the team is beyond unprofessional. Everyone working for the team takes their careers seriously… They work hard to improve the car.. Improve themselves.. Reach ambitious goals, just for an unprofessional hobbyist, who doesn’t really belong in F1 to come and mess everything up every weekend.
Dusty
17th September 2023, 16:11
Like Stroll, I’m not one of the 20 fastest drivers in the world. But if wrecking in Qualifying is a requirement I might have a chance of a seat for 2024.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
18th September 2023, 0:15
Ahah, goes for any of us!
Jazz (@jazz)
17th September 2023, 16:36
$troll would undoubtedly have woken up sore this morning, but I believe his failure to race today was three fold:
1. He’s demonstrably no good at this circuit, and he got lambasted for a similarly abysmal performance at Monaco this year.
2. Likely potential for Drugovich to achieve a better result than him
3. (I can’t remember what my third point was!!)…..but this gives him a great excuse to explain the huge points deficit to ChadAlonso without being completely honest with himself and outright saying he doesn’t deserve the seat.
Pod
17th September 2023, 18:18
It’s increasingly hard to take Aston Martin seriously.
We get this sort of PR spin nonsense from the team principal.
They give the boss’ son a race seat despite the fact he is clearly over his head.
They can’t develop their cars because they aren’t their cars, they are copies of other team’s cars, this year RB, last year MB.
Dex
17th September 2023, 18:46
Yeah, he’s committed to ruining his father’s team. Well, their own undoing. And they can afford it too. And Krack, it must be a relief to finally get that statement from PR, it must have been a challenging day for them. If you ask me, being committed to doing something stupid is just plain – stupid. And when you’re not talented, you have to be smarter than everyone else.
Leroy (@g-funk)
18th September 2023, 2:00
At some point you have to wonder when the other investors patience for Lance’s vanity project will run out. It must be getting close at this point. He’s clearly holding the team back from being more successful.
Denis (@denis1304)
18th September 2023, 7:25
Stroll’s crash was proof of him running out of talent…