Following the Italian Grand Prix, the 14th round of the Formula 1 season, Lance Stroll trailed team mate Fernando Alonso by 123 points in the standings.
That weekend Aston Martin slipped behind Ferrari to fourth in the constructors’ standings. They would comfortably occupy that position without Stroll’s lesser contribution of just 47 points.The team wanted to bounce back at last weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix, but Stroll crashed his car heavily in Q1 which led to him missing the race. Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack said Stroll’s crash proved he was fully committed in the car.
Unusually this was a difficult weekend for both drivers. Alonso called his car “undriveable” at one point during the race, and though he qualified seventh but a frustrating Sunday left him 15th and, for the first time this year, point-less.
Aston Martin’s decline has in part been down to rivals such as McLaren becoming more frequent podium contenders. But the widening gap between Stroll and his team mate means questions are inevitably being asked of his performance.
Stroll has come first of the two Aston Martins in just one grand prix this year. On that occasion Alonso clearly had the pace to pass his team mate, but chose not to.
In the races where both finished Stroll was on average 4.5 places behind. On average Alonso scores almost nine points more than his team mate every weekend. While Alonso held third in the drivers’ standings until last weekend, Stroll is at risk of slipping out of the top 10.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
But Aston Martin team principal Mika Krack believes that does not reflect each drivers’ efforts. “There is not a marked gap in performance, there is a marked gap in points,” he said at Monza. “And it’s important to separate between the two.”
He says there are circumstantial reasons why Stroll has been so emphatically out-scored by Alonso. “We have seen, we as a team, we are analysing the season from both perspectives, from both drivers. And I think we as a team, we need to do a much, much better job on that side of the garage. [On] race strategy, but also we had reliability issues and it was always hitting that car. So that is something we need to do much, much better.”
He uses the example of the Dutch Grand Prix, where Alonso had qualified six places ahead and finished second while Stroll failed to score after being one of the last drivers to make their first pit stop.
“We have to look back and look at the strategy that we have adopted in Zandvoort. I think Lance had a strong weekend up until then,” said Krack.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
“As a team, we have to take responsibility for a call that was just not decisive enough, which ruined his race at the end of the day. We need to get better in tough situations. It doesn’t help, obviously, it doesn’t help him.”
Aston Martin have “had several issues all over the year, that unfortunately always hit the same” car, Krack added.
Any change in the driver line-up is not on the cards for next year, Krack insists. “We will be fine next year with the two drivers,” he says. The team will “not have any such debate at the moment” that Stroll’s points shortfall compared to Alonso has cost them a chance of competing for second in the constructors’ standings.
“I think in general between drivers, there is always a certain gap that you would say is not normal but circumstantial. Sometimes you have a bit of traffic. Sometimes one has a glitch in one corner. But normally I think the drivers are normally within three tenths.”
That may have been the case earlier in the season, but lately the gap has widened. Stroll has got his deficit to Alonso under three tenths of a second of five occasions but not since the Spanish Grand Prix in early June. Last weekend was the fifth time in six weekends Stroll qualified over half a second off his team mate.
Krack has no concerns over Stroll’s application. “We have seen over the last weeks a very hard-working driver, trying to analyse every little detail where he can improve. Being in the simulator, driving a lot, so I think there’s nothing that goes in that direction.”
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
He also doesn’t “think that there is any particular characteristic” of the car “that will be different for him than for Fernando” and therefore contributing to the pace disparity. Krack reckons Stroll’s performances in the car “can be just the same” as Alonso’s, and uses the previous two years to support his case.
In 2021 and 2022, Stroll was team mate to four-times world champion Sebastian Vettel. They finished one position apart in the standings in their first year together, with Stroll scoring 79% of the points that Vettel was able to, but last year Vettel scored more than twice as many points as his team mate.
“We had all these discussions when Sebastian joined the team and I think it went pretty well,” said Krack. “And there’s no reason why it should not be the same.
“We had a four-time world champion. But we don’t look at it like you do in terms of who has won how many championships. We brought a driver of that class to take steps as a team. And I think we all learn from having [two-times champion] Fernando, and the same goes for Lance. So from that point of view, it’s all normal. And we need to also learn from that experience, and that is something that we do. On the driver’s side and on the team side.”
A penalty for an error coming into the pits followed by a slow tyre change last weekend prevented Alonso from increasing his lead over Stroll beyond its current 123 points. There have been bigger points gaps between team mates, but typically only in cases of one driver being a title contender, as is the case with Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez, currently separated by 151 points.
Realistically, Stroll is likely to remain in their line-up as long as he wants to, while his father owns the team. But the wider that points gap grows, the harder it will be to explain away.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
Unrepresentative comparisons omitted. Negative value: Stroll was faster; Positive value: Alonso was faster
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:
2023 F1 season
- FIA president cleared of alleged interference in two 2023 races
- First week viewing figures for new Drive to Survive season fall again
- Max who? Drive to Survive season six prefers its favourite faces
- RaceFans’ complete 2023 season review
- The F1 drivers who pulled off the 10 biggest charges through the field in 2023
BasCB (@bascb)
20th September 2023, 12:57
Sorry Lance, you can be fully committed. You can really do your best and dig deep and everything. I am also convinced that his injury at the start will not have helped him.
But look at the gap. If a lot of that was down to that injury, he would have stayed close after being close mid season. He has not been.
And sure, the gird being as close exasperates a relatively small difference and makes a huge difference in results achievable. But did we even once this year see Stroll have a really impressive weekend? A drive where most of us could agree he showed his worth? A drive like we got from Alonso almost every time he had a chance?
I think Lance might be struggling a bit too with how hopeless it is to compete against a driver who is just so far ahead of you in so many things. We see how hard it can be to be in the car with Max, with Lewis and other drivers of such calibre in the past.
To me the best thing would be for Lance to just call it a day, say his injuries are just too painful, use them as an excuse for himself, towards his father, whatever. And become a very accomplished driver in sportscars. Or a team coach or something. And open that seat up for a driver who might have a better chance of growing into it.
ECWDanSelby (@ecwdanselby)
20th September 2023, 13:25
100%. It’s over to Lawrence – how serious are you about growing the team?
Zann (@zann)
20th September 2023, 21:54
This is it isn’t it. He’s mega ambitious. But he’s going to have to choose between being ambitious for his son and ambitious for his business. Of course his son is his genes, but now it’s obvious those genes are B grade in F1 driving, so is this good or bad for dad? His team is all himself otherwise, after all. And when the new wind tunnel and all that come on stream, he might think he’s got a shot at having an A grade F1 team. So at that point, I’m thinking he might easily call time on Lance’s experiment. Behind the scenes, obviously.
Nick T.
21st September 2023, 11:43
Also shows the difference in caliber between Alonso and Vettel. And how ridiculous it is whenever a good driver gets an amazing car and suddenly they’re being called one of the best drivers ever and for a long time, I remember a fair number of people arguing Vettel was better than Alonso.
Tristan
20th September 2023, 13:10
10/10 for asking the hard questions. Totally exposed. It would be terrible to be on “that side of the garage” and be blamed for Strolls performance.
Nick T.
21st September 2023, 11:47
I feel bad for Krack. We all know the truth. It’s got to be frustrating having to answer these questions over and over again. I think Stroll is no worse than Kevin Magnussen, but the difference is Magnussen is a lot tougher and we’re seeing how bad average drivers look when paired with someone like Fernando.
Let’s not forget, Alonso also more than tripled Kimi’s points tally in their season together, did the same to Massa about 3 years after Massa lost the WDC by a point and to other drivers of less notable stature.
MacLeod (@macleod)
20th September 2023, 13:23
Lance Stroll is since his injury totaly not even his old self once, and now he is trying too hard which evoke more errors like a downwards spiral. I don’t think this is going to improve this season and if he doesn’t come back strong after the winter his fantasy is over.
His Father is maybe the biggest shareholder but the others want their profit too and only having 1 driver getting the points is not what they want….
Keith Campbell (@keithedin)
20th September 2023, 13:39
Honestly, it must hurt Lance’s motivation when he sees himself so far off every weekend and unable to get close to his teammate in the same car. I don’t know if he is just happy to make up the numbers and be part of the F1 circus, but i would have thought he would be happier racing in another category with less scrutiny and dare I say it weaker opposition (within his own team at least). Other drivers who were mediocre at best in F1 have carved out a decent career in other categories like DTM or endurance racing, I’m sure Lance could do the same. However, Lawrence seems fully committed to this F1 project so perhaps he wouldn’t be too pleased with Lance deciding to go somewhere else, given that this whole investment was clearly aimed at propelling his son up the F1 ranks.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
20th September 2023, 19:40
The thing with lawrence stroll is no matter how much money he spends, he ends up richer than before, he had 3 billions worth when lance started f1, now almost 4 despite having spent a lot on a williams seat, then buying force india and also the improved facilities at now aston martin, so he may not be pleased, but it doesn’t make a dent economically.
Archibald Bumfluff
20th September 2023, 13:41
Lance’s heart isn’t in it any more.
He wasn’t that far behind Perez or Vettel.
Either Alonso is THAT much better than Vettel and Perez (which is possible) or Lance is not as fast as he used to be. With rumours abound that Lance is thinking of taking up Tennis full time, it seems like he’s maybe doing a job he doesn’t enjoy any more.
dot_com (@dot_com)
20th September 2023, 19:55
I feel that way too. I was half expecting him to announce his retirement soon after the crash in Singapore – like that was the final straw in a generally awful season.
AlanD
20th September 2023, 23:46
I think Alonso is significantly better than Vettel was in his final couple of seasons, and yes, better than Perez too, and he is now showing what the car is capable of. You would think that if Stroll had the raw talent, with the amount of F1 experience he now has under his belt, he would be closer to Alonso and finding ways to get more out of the car.
Nick T.
21st September 2023, 11:55
It’s both. Alonso is significantly better than Vettel and I think Stroll’s morale started to really dip after the British GP. Up through Austrian GP, he was getting overshadowed by he was usually in the points. Since then, it’s been one disaster after another. It’s also coincided with the car’s performance really going downhill and that’s where Alonso’s magic is most noticeable. Taking a car that might be a 12th or so in most drivers’ hands and finishing in the 3-10 range. That Aston had no business being on the podium in Holland.
Todfod (@todfod)
20th September 2023, 13:46
What’s the point of this article really? If it’s trying to spark a debate whether the points total doesn’t reflect the difference in performance between the two drivers, then this article has failed miserably. The only weekend where Lance did look close to, or quicker than, his teammate was the Spanish GP, and even then, Alonso would have finished ahead of him if he chose to attack.
The rest of the races Stroll was outqualified and outraced by Alonso with ease… and that includes the weekends where Alonso wasn’t even in good form. The average qualifying deficit of Stroll is 0.5s and the average finishing position is 4 to 5 places behind.
Lance has probably been the worst driver on the grid this season (I’m excluding Nyck as he only had 10 races) and Alonso has probably been the 2nd best driver on the grid this year. Besides what Lawrence’s employees might say, its more than obvious that one driver is getting beaten out in every measurable performance statistic, and that reflects in the points total as well.
Guillaume Raton
20th September 2023, 15:44
i think it’s to give Alonso obsessives such as yourself an aneurysm.
Todfod (@todfod)
20th September 2023, 17:21
I think Trolls such as yourself do that pretty well
Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
20th September 2023, 21:50
@todfod
I think Sargeant has quite clearly been worse than Stroll. Stroll does have some decent to pretty good races. Sargeant hasn’t really had any of those. Stroll also does quite often do some pretty impressive overtakes, plus in many of the races, his lap 1 performance is sometimes amazing. There is something he must do different on his preperation lap to other drivers as his launch often seems better. The strange thing is though that he usually has much better race craft at the start, then looks so bad at other times later in the race, often doing some pretty dangerous moves.
Regarding Alonso, there isn’t actually anything that proves for certain that Alonso would have been able to pass.
I’m nitpicking here, but it also should be mentioned that Alonso hasn’t exactly been any better than Stroll accross all of the sprints this year, and that is now part of the season, and you haven’t mentioned it.
In Azerbaijan, Alonso did clearly look better and finished a couple of places ahead of Stroll.
However, in Austria, Stroll did outqualify and outrace Alonso for the sprint. Then in Belgium, Alonso literally spun out of the race. Overall, I don’t think anyone can actually say that Alonso has been better than Stroll regarding just the sprints this year, so I don’t think this statement of yours is quite true: “that one driver is getting beaten out in every measurable performance statistic”
All this said, the only drivers I would rate behind Stroll are Sargeant and Di Vries.
Nick T.
21st September 2023, 12:05
I agree and for me, this is why Stroll’s performances are totally down to a lack of commitment, focus and grit than talent. We KNOW he has talent to be at the level with the likes of Perez. However, it’s clear he’s just not than hungry to win let alone in love with F1. Worst of all for a driver, I think he actually gets slightly scared on the few tracks where it’s still possible to get injured if you mess up enough and have bad luck. If you’re scared, it’s impossible to go fast enough. I know from experience. When I first started racing, there was a corner at this one track where you had to be flat out in 5th and pointing right at a wall as your car bounced around on this rough piece of track. I just couldn’t keep my foot in it and it’d cost me nearly 3 tenths in that one single corner. I felt like I had just won Monaco the first time I stayed flat out. The next lap I almost lost it there and wasn’t flat out again the entire race. 🤣
EffWunFan (@cairnsfella)
21st September 2023, 7:42
@Todfod
Perhaps it’s just my interpretation, but the point of the article seems to be to highlight how Aston Martin believe – or wish to appear to believe – that the points total doesn’t reflect the difference in performance between the two drivers.
And, again from my perspective, the article seems to have done that successfully.
Now whether I am convinced by that argument is another matter.
Edvaldo
20th September 2023, 13:52
Kudos to Mike Krack for saying all this BS with a straight face.
Coventry Climax
20th September 2023, 13:54
No talks within the team of replacing him this year. That’s quite hard to believe, actually.
With a performance that bad, there simply must be talks. Whether they lead to anyting is another matter.
Dex
20th September 2023, 13:56
I understand, some people need or want to keep their jobs, but isn’t this too humiliating, mr. Krack? How can you be saying all this nonsense, defending a spoiled child by inventing facts no one would believe in? You have a CV, it’s not like you’re desperate on the job market. I don’t get it… Working at AM and preserving your dignity seems like an impossible task these days. Even Alonso lowered himself more than once (which was kinda unexpected). Wages must be really good over there.
David
20th September 2023, 14:06
I feel like Lance may retire himself from F1, perhaps at the end of this season.
I’ve always been a defender of his, he has some talent, although he would never be a top pick for a free seat.
But his performance this year is declining with every weekend. No doubt Alonso has exposed how far he is off a top driver, but I also feel like he may be carrying more of a long term injury than he is willing to reveal after rushing back into the car too soon after his bike accident.
Lawrence will never get rid of him so it’s down to Lance to call time on this phase of his F1 adventure.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
20th September 2023, 20:01
Exactly this is the problem: I didn’t get an answer on the other thread when I asked, but I don’t feel there’s much difference between stroll on a good year and tsunoda, and tsunoda is getting an extension from what the rumors say and is not easy to beat for most drivers that come up in alpha tauri, only lawson so far seems able to do that, so he’s worthy of f1 on merit, what annoys me is that he’s not worthy of a top team seat, and the potential of that car is basically half-wasted this year.
t1redmonkey (@t1redmonkey)
20th September 2023, 14:18
I defended him quite a lot the last couple years, as I felt he was getting a lot of flak for just being the son of the team owner, when he wasn’t performing too badly (not great of course but not as bad as most were making out and still had some really good races occasionally).
This year I don’t think there is any defending of him possible, as he’s been terrible pretty much every weekend, both in qualifying and races (he was previously pretty bad at qualifying but would redeem himself somewhat in the race).
I am wondering if it was the injury at the start of the year and maybe it’s lingering effects on him, or has he just become more and more demoralised as the season has gone on and maybe he’s finally realised he doesn’t have what it takes to be a top driver, or maybe it’s a combination of both. I think regardless, it’s time for him to step down. He can still race in other categories if he wants to I’m sure, but I’m quite certain now that he doesn’t have what it takes for F1. I’m sure his father could also get him another role in AM too if he wanted to remain involved in some way (but hopefully a role that doesn’t have too much influence on the running of the team!).
Nick T.
21st September 2023, 12:11
It’s just his morale. It’s an exaggeration to say he’s been terrible almost every weekend. Through the Austrian GP, he was almost always in the points. When the car no longer had a clear pace advantage over midfield beginning with the British GP, he’s just absolutely sank like a rock.
I have a feeling Lance is more afraid of telling his dad that he wants to quit than anything else even though I feel like his dad would understand. LBH though, we have no idea what their relationship is actually like and what Lance is thinking. But I’d love one day if he wrote a book about what he was actually thinking and feeling during his career because to me, he’s the driver we know the least about and who shows the least of himself to media and fans.
slowmo (@slowmo)
20th September 2023, 14:19
Is any other team clamoring for Lance’s signature? I think that pretty much answers the question of whether he’s worth keeping.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
20th September 2023, 14:29
Both. Alonso’s a beast and he was bound to destroy him anyway. But Stroll also lacked pace and points compared to Seb, who was not even close to his former self.
I defended him before. But he’s not shown much progress. For someone that has the peace of mind to be sure of a seat, he lacks just about everything in a racing car…
Doggy
20th September 2023, 14:31
There is no argument here that Alonso has crushed points and performance wise Stroll. This season he has been within bottom 3 drivers.
I also think that there are more capable drivers out there without a sit in F1.
However, to be fair with Stroll, he has had the most difficult set of teammates that anyone have had in recent history.
* Massa: 2nd in the world championship (*2008)
* Sirotkin: Lance beat him
* Checo:
* Hulkenberg: Lance beat him too
* Vettel: Beat Lance by 9 points only
* Alonso: One of the best drivers ever
I dont remember anyone, in the past 20 years, that had to compete against 6 times world champion. Not Hamilton, Not Schumi, Not Max, etc.
If anyone helps to juggle my memory here
slowmo (@slowmo)
20th September 2023, 16:33
Rosberg and Bottas for starters. Using your definition which seems to be total number of championships then it’s Rosberg hands down as his teammates had 10 championships between them when he retired. I think a better definition is the number of years with a world champion in the other seat.
Doggy
20th September 2023, 17:10
Good points you brought here @slowmo for Rosberg.
As for Bottas, he only had one competent Teammate (Lewis). That yes, at the time had 7 titles.
Not Only Rosberg raced Schumi and Hamilton, but also Webber.
Also, about Sainz, he has had very tough teammates too.
This is what I alluded on a different post. F1 is so complex that it´s impossible to say ¨X¨ driver is the GOAT. Sainz is often underrated.
David
20th September 2023, 22:03
10 for Massa too if I’m not missing anything
Electroball76
22nd September 2023, 22:59
10 F1 championships? Well Massa should have won 10 but he was robbed. His lawyers are looking into it.
slowmo (@slowmo)
20th September 2023, 16:40
Oh and if I were to pick a driver on the grid whose had the toughest teammates in recent history it would be Carlos Sainz easily. He’s partnered:
Max Verstappen
Daniil Kvyat
Nico Hulkenberg
Lando Norris
Charles Leclerc
Obviously Max needs no explanation but you’d be a brave man if you put money on Leclerc or Norris never winning a WDC in the future. Kvyat and Hulkenberg are also not push overs when it comes to teammates.
Luke S (@joeypropane)
21st September 2023, 19:37
How about Alonso himself? He’s notorious for being a team mate crusher, but the calibre of those team mates has been pretty high:
-Trulli
-Hamilton
-Massa
-Raikkonen
-Button
-Vandoorne
-Ocon
Moi
20th September 2023, 15:39
I see Mike Krack getting a lot of flak, but to be honest I think he is just doing his job as team principal. He should defend his drivers in public as a matter of course. Both from a professional and ethical standpoint it serves no purpose to hang him out to dry in public, regardless of whether he is the owners’ son or not.
Internally, that is another matter. I would hope that Mike is able to adress Lance’s performance defecit directly and without fearing Lawrence’s displeasure. If he is, then I see no reason to criticize Mike Krack on this matter for his public utterances.
Fishingelbow (@fishingelbow)
20th September 2023, 17:21
Come on, guys, give the kid a break! This is only his seventh year racing in F1. Let him race for another 10 years or so, and you’ll see signs of a potential world champ. 🤿
AlanD
21st September 2023, 0:15
I thought you were exagerating for comic effect when you said he was in his seventh year, and then I went to check the stats and was shocked to see it really is his seventh season. Currently he is 10th place for the all time list of drivers with most races without a race win, 138 races. There are two current drivers ahead of him in that list, P7 in Magnuessen, 157 races, and P2 is Hulkenberg, 199 races. It isn’t a top ten anyone wants to be in, but interestingly, P5 on that list with 165 races is TV pundit Martin Brundle, one place ahead of another British driver, Derek Warwick. Of course, everyone wants to know who is top of the list. Andrea de Cesaris, 213 races without a win over the course of 14 seasons. To give a bit more context to Stroll’s position though, it took Sainz 151 races before his first race win, and Perzez needed 194 races before he scored a race win, so you could argue that Stroll still hasn’t been given the same chances that they have, and people are waxing lyrical about Sainz at the moment.
SjaakFoo (@sjaakfoo)
20th September 2023, 19:07
Lance had 3, maybe 4 if your generous, noteworthy drives in his entire career. Some of which are of the degree of “he started 2nd in Monza once after qualifying 4th and getting promoted from penalties of those ahead.”
Can we please stop pretending he’s anything but a lower card driver. He’s Sirotkin. He’s Sargeant. He’s Gutierrez. He’s Chandhok. He’s Palmer. Should we really be surprised he can’t hold a candle to Alonso?
Niefer (@niefer)
20th September 2023, 19:21
Ultimately what matters is pace.
We have Leclerc pacing the same as Sainz even though Carlos is displaying better form. Same happened in the past with Hamilton to Rosberg, Vettel to Ricciardo, Alonso to Hamilton, and we even had a Verstappen pacing better than Daniel but still losing in the end. Endless examples.
So, the crucial question rises: is Lance pacing the same, or at least around Fernando? I guess not. As he hadn’t had Sebastian’s pace or Felipe’s, as far as I remember. Hence, there’s not much left to discuss.
If anything, he should be at the back where he belongs, but AM doesn’t belong there any more. This won’t get better. Front-class operations take 1st tier drivers, they’ll keep exposing Lance. But if you drop’em and back Lance only, either you build a monster of a car (which isn’t a given), or you’ll be burning loads of cash trying.
Won’t matter the road taken, as long as they’re with Lance, they’ll be always carrying water for him.
dot_com (@dot_com)
20th September 2023, 20:01
I don’t really understand what Lance/Lawrence really expected when they signed Alonso. Strolls been unable to convincingly beat any of his former team mates, and Alonso is on a completely different level. The downward spiral began really quickly and there’s no way back from this trouncing. There’s only really one logical option – they need to get rid of Alonso :-)
RBAlonso (@rbalonso)
20th September 2023, 20:55
I remember thinking when Lance was signed by Williams that it was premature and to his detriment. His elevation through the ranks had a few good drives but most knew of him for dangerous crashes in Monza and Spa. Had he been given a couple of seasons to grow as a driver I think he’d have been better for it; Moreover he’d probably be better in front of the media. Too often he seems disinterested, which fuels the entitlement rhetoric.
This season has clearly been a low point. He seemed at least competitive with Vettel on occasion and to be cutting out the totally amateur mistakes. But he’s regressed a bit compared to Alonso – how much of that is down to car development twinned with his (almost) in season injury is debatable but it’s been going the way most suggested it would.
I think it’s worth noting how much of a team-mate destroyer Alonso is. Fisichella was highly rated when he joined Renault and one of the best drivers in 2004, by 2007 he was finished. Piquet jr and Grosjean never stood a chance. Massa was comprehensively beaten, as was Raikkonen. Vandoorne has annihilated despite a really sincere hype. Ocon was very badly beaten last season excluding reliability. The only 2 who really matched Fernando were Button in an incredibly disappointing, for all concerned, McLaren and Hamilton. 2 WDCs during tough seasons for Alonso. In every other season since his titles Alonso has obliterated when he was the decisive number one as he clearly is at Aston.
I think Lance hasn’t been helped by his forced career moves, but he’s not delivering and is now holding back a team with serious potential. What’s worrying for Aston is that they’ve cemented their short term future, no driver will have assumed a vacancy would be there for years and Drugovich will not be an adequate replacement for Stroll if the ambition is an instant winner.
Nick T.
21st September 2023, 12:23
100%. I think 99% of fans don’t understand how badly Alonso crushed Ocon last season. In fact, half might even say something as clueless as “Ocon beat Fernando in 2022!” I wrote out a full list of all the times in 2022 he had a mechanical DNF while well into the points or compromised his quali or even prevented him from starting, a team error cost him badly, etc. and it was nearly a dozen times.
Beyond more than tripling Kimi on points, he almost shut out Kimi in quali. I think Kimi genuinely out qualified him once the entire season and he never beat him in the race (he finished ahead in Spa, but not by much and that was due to a flat tire or something else catastrophic).
Neil (@neilosjames)
20th September 2023, 21:52
I wonder if Lawrence – at least in part – hired Alonso as a ‘sink or swim’ test for Lance.
He could either rise to the occasion, show he has the talent, gain confidence from doing well against one of the greats… or be demoralised enough to realise there’s no real point in trying to be an F1 driver, and end up not being too sad when his dad kicks him out.
David
20th September 2023, 22:16
I think they hired Alonso for same reason as Vettel; multiple WDC great marketing value and feedback, and expected both to be well past their prime, so he can say like ‘look, Lance isn’t too far off of this legend’
I think he didn’t expect Alonso was still this good
AlanD
21st September 2023, 0:17
David, you’ve hit the nail on the head I think
dot_com (@dot_com)
21st September 2023, 0:59
Well said, agree 100%
Nick T.
21st September 2023, 12:35
I disagree. I think they knew Alonso was going to be dynamite. I just didn’t think they thought Stroll would be so far away. Vettel wasn’t that far off his old form. He just didn’t a have a great car to flatter him anymore. When he actually had good teammates in good cars, he got beat by Ricciardo and Leclerc. Seb was a very good driver, but he was never what the 2009-2013 RBR made him look like. Let’s not forget, without some amazing luck, Vettel loses two of those WDCs to an FA in a vastly inferior car instead of winning one by one point and a second by less than five. In 2012, Vettel was starting last in Spa when Grosjean wiped out Alonso, Hamilton and half the front runners. If that doesn’t happen and Alonso simply finishes in the top 5, he’s easily WDC.
Shimks (@shimks)
21st September 2023, 11:21
I think back to that amazing race of Stroll’s in the wet at Brazil, whenever it was. How can a glimpse of pure magic appear and then disappear again? I’m still scratching my head.
Alonso given a good car is as magic as he ever was, regardless of his age. As someone here already said, he is a beast. Still one of the best drivers that ever competed in F1.
But maybe the car isn’t that good? Maybe Alonso – with his skills and experience – is flattering that car? This is probably true in at least some areas and would magnify the gap in performance between himself and Stroll.
Stroll is not one of the best drivers – not by a long shot. He’s had enough years to prove himself at least as a reliable No. 2 and he hasn’t even managed that. He didn’t need to prove himself a match for Alonso this year – he just needed to appear adequate. Once again, he has failed. I’m sad for him – he seems like a nice kid. But he’s just not cut out for F1. He’d be so much better off holding his head high and making the decision to leave himself – not waiting for the inevitable.
Nick T.
21st September 2023, 12:28
Since Austria, it’s been clear the Aston is about the fifth fastest car in the field. That’s why Stroll has looked so awful while Alonso continued to finish solidly in the points and even snatch a podium.
Lance on the other hand, is usually finished within 3 places of where the car really is.