Lance Stroll’s anger was clear to see after he failed to progress beyond the first round of qualifying for the fourth race weekend in a row in Qatar.
The Aston Martin driver threw the steering wheel from the cockpit of his car after his latest elimination. He then appeared to push team member Henry Howe aside as he left the garage.Howe is Stroll’s osteopath and performance coach, who the driver credited for aiding his recovery from injury after he broke his wrists in a pre-season cycling crash.
Stroll’s frustration peaked after he ended Q1 in 17th place, 1.1 seconds slower than team mate Fernando Alonso in third. He told the official F1 website it had been a “shit” session.
In a press release distributed by his team, Stroll explained the circumstances which led up to his latest Q1 elimination.
“My first lap was deleted due to track limits and I had to abort my second due to traffic, so I had a big job to do for my final run,” he said. “The car felt okay, but we just didn’t have the pace.
“We’ve got another opportunity to go again tomorrow, and learn what we can ahead of the sprint events.”
Alonso continued his unbroken run of reaching Q3 at every event this year, something no other driver has achieved. Stroll has only made it to the final stage on seven occasions, and this was his fifth exit in Q1.
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Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
6th October 2023, 22:12
“Something” happens every time… Excuses are easy to find if you look for them. Fact is its 4 times in a row out of Q1 and that Aston can do much better than fight against Alfas and Haases
Keith Campbell (@keithedin)
6th October 2023, 22:24
@fer-no65 Yeah, that’s the thing. The team can be late sending the car out or put the car into traffic and cause a setback, but a good driver will go out and set a solid lap to get themselves through the session more often than not. By his own admission, he had one lap time deleted to track limits and the final one just wasn’t fast enough, so he had two bites at the cherry and was still nowhere.
He seems to be getting worse the more ‘pressure’ he’s under. The end of the season can’t come soon enough for him as it doesn’t look like he’s even capable of scoring points from now on.
Edvaldo
6th October 2023, 22:20
“his anger as he left the cockpit shows how much he cares” is what Mike Krack probably has to say about this.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
6th October 2023, 23:18
I’m actually surprised about him being angry, thought he couldn’t be bothered about performing or not.
Antz (@antznz)
7th October 2023, 0:59
@esploratore1 I wonder if he’s been given *that* ultimatum – perform or make way?
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
7th October 2023, 7:58
Hopefully, cause at least he was a decent midfield driver until he got a proper car this year, now he’s not even at his old performance level.
MattDS (@mattds)
7th October 2023, 12:37
@esploratore1 why would you be surprised about him being angry? He’s a racing driver from young age, he’s won a lot in karting and feeder series, competitiveness is baked into him just like it is in all other drivers. So of course he will be angry and care about not performing well.
Bobby (@shakenbake)
6th October 2023, 22:23
Frustrations with poor performance, either from your own and/or the teams perspective are understandable. But to shove a team member like that is inexcusable. He’s no doubt been spoiled his whole life, but it seems the brat part unfortunately is part of him also.
At what point does Lawrence consider the advancement of Aston Martin’s brand and F1 title hopes against that of his son’s career? Because it now seems evident AM can’t challenge the front runners with Stroll Jnr in the 2nd seat.
Nick T.
7th October 2023, 7:36
Not a Lance fan, but “shove” is a bit of an exaggeration. It was closer to putting a “I don’t feel like being hugged” arm up. We all know what an actual shove looks like that and that wasn’t it.
Nick T.
7th October 2023, 8:05
I went back and found another video. It appears there was a shove, but impossible to tell what really happened with a wall blocking our view.
Stephen Higgins
6th October 2023, 22:25
Petulant. Just petulant.
Doesn’t even deserve a slot in the Valkyrie for that.
Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
6th October 2023, 22:29
He was probably aiming the wheel inside the car, but missed.
Nev
6th October 2023, 22:50
Lol
Dale
6th October 2023, 22:30
In a few short minutes he demonstrated his lack of ability in the car, a lack of respect for his equipment and those who build it, huge disrespect of his personal staff, a sulky / bratty / entitled attitude with the media, and disrespect for the fans.
Time is up silver spoon boy.
Go spend daddy’s money where no one can see you.
Nev
6th October 2023, 22:53
Spot on!
Free_B
6th October 2023, 22:38
Toy (steering wheel) out of pram.
PacificPR (@streydt)
7th October 2023, 7:41
at least he didn’t destroy his pram this time.
Zann (@zann)
6th October 2023, 22:59
wow he really deliberately shoved him away, with both arms! Makes me wonder if dad gave him a target to stay and he’s just missed it. Lots of flak coming in for him, from all over
Nick T.
7th October 2023, 7:41
When did this happen? I watched the video of him getting out of the car and kind of brushing by the AM guy with the glasses, but I didn’t see anything that could be called a shove. However, I am guessing I missed it if you’re saying you saw a double-handed shove. If you’re talking about what happened when he first got out of the car, that was nothing.
Nick T.
7th October 2023, 7:47
I went back and found another video. Since his trainer is behind the wall, it’s impossible to tell exactly what went down, but definitely not a good look. Stroll’s dedication and speed were always in question, but this aspect wasn’t ever. He just gave a lot more fodder to those who want him gone.
Bob
7th October 2023, 9:16
I think it can be other way around. One of articles mentioned Lance’s and Lawrence’s visit at the factory and this person “never saw father so interested and son so not interested”. Maybe Lance want out but he can’t until the team is sold?
Zann (@zann)
7th October 2023, 18:05
Yes I saw that. It’s not easy to match it up with everything else, I mean they have to be so mega motivated to be anywhere near the pace, it’s so intense. The best I can think of is he’s not interested in the engineering just the driving. Otherwise if he wanted out then he could have been out in Q1 every time from the start and been shoving everybody! Anyway he’s toast now and personally I won’t particularly miss him.
Mark (@mrcento)
6th October 2023, 23:00
I think he’s done and we’re seeing the pressure he’s actually under surfacing.
Sure, his seat is/has been safer than it should have been, but Lawrence Stroll himself has said that they have a board, and Lances performance has to be justifiable to them to keep the seat. That’s fairly easy done when the car itself is nowhere and the lack of pace isn’t costing points on the regular whilst the father bankrolls the outfit, but when his lack of performance starts costing the team millions in prize money at the seasons end (And it likely will given the consistency of the others and huge resurgence of McLaren), when the other car has been a podium regular and carried the entire team, that argument for him staying suddenly doesn’t wash, regardless of Daddy’s cash….
If the rumours of Stroll Senior and Saudi money fund willing to buy him out are true, can see him cutting and running.
Nick T.
7th October 2023, 7:49
They need to bring Vettel back to make it look like Stroll isn’t that bad.
Leroy (@g-funk)
7th October 2023, 1:25
Surely there is a team code of conduct. Even for the owners son. I hope they take disciplinary action against him. Not only did he throw the steering wheel and shove his teammate, he gave awful answers to the press afterwards. At some point his temper tantrum has to be unacceptable. Even to his dad.
Matthew Jordan
7th October 2023, 2:10
Are we seeing braking point in real life? Is Stroll Devon Butler? Is his sister any good?
@denn (@denn)
7th October 2023, 2:38
wonder if the Singapore concussion is contributing to his erratic behavior
Sam
7th October 2023, 5:39
Some pretty bad F1 drivers have gone onto good success in other series. Not sure why you would keep hanging around.
Sam
7th October 2023, 5:40
Sorry, that was meant to be a general comment, not a response to you.
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
7th October 2023, 3:16
His dad needs to mentor him more. Stroll needs to finish on a high, no matter which level he achieves. His dad should know this and have communicated it proper.
Jere (@jerejj)
7th October 2023, 6:31
The showing must’ve happened behind a mechanic because that wasn’t clearly visible on the footage, nor was the steering wheel throw.
Nick T.
7th October 2023, 7:50
It was behind a wall. Impossible to see what really happened.
Todfod (@todfod)
7th October 2023, 6:55
Stroll is no stranger to putting in rubbish performances. He’s been consistently underperforming throughout his time in F1. However, his attitude has changed from not being bothered, to slightly embarrassed, to self disgust and now pure frustration and anger. It will just take a few more races to finally break him.. And hopefully he’ll be gone for good.
His presence on the grid is insulting to the sport, the fans and everyone individual who works in the Aston Martin team.
iCarbs (@icarby)
7th October 2023, 9:05
@todfod Post of the year!
milansson
7th October 2023, 14:32
1000% agree!!!
dot_com (@dot_com)
8th October 2023, 13:36
Agree totally. I think this year has completely ruined him, and I don’t believe we’ll see him on the grid next year.
Molly
8th October 2023, 16:43
Sulky spoiled brat behaviour. Very sad really, he had some pretty good races a few years ago.
Armchair Expert (@armchairexpert)
7th October 2023, 7:31
This is how rich people behave and treat “poor” peasants like us and Stroll is no different, is it really that surprising? Tax the rich to the maximum, they don’t deserve their absurd wealth.
ryanoceros (@ryanoceros)
7th October 2023, 8:31
Life is tough and you aren’t close to Fernando’s pace.
Dr.D
7th October 2023, 8:47
I would love to see how Alonso would handle a team mate like Max.
They both are team mate killers.
Jonathan Parkin
7th October 2023, 8:53
See 2007 if you wish to know!
Alonso could still have won the title that year though
MichaelN
7th October 2023, 10:07
Ron Dennis and Flavio Briatore could tell some great stories about that.
Alonso’s record is more impressive here, having been partnered with Hamilton, Button and Räikkönen, each a champion. Verstappen’s best teammates, with whom he was pretty close performance wise, were Sainz and Ricciardo, which isn’t quite the same level.
But I’m sure Verstappen has improved since then, and especially in the form he’s been in since about late 2018 he’d be a tough teammate for anyone. His consistency and raw speed are probably the benchmark at the moment
Olivier
7th October 2023, 11:39
At 24, Stroll could easily afford a sabbatical. There are still plenty of years ahead of him, and a return seat is guaranteed. On a personal level, it would allow him to hit that mental reset button because he clearly is in a downward spiral. His recent behaviour is testament to that. It is unacceptable and should not be sugar coated.
Nick T.
7th October 2023, 12:13
It’s crazy that he’s still only 24. What I’d give to have a second chance starting from that age.