Lance Stroll says his qualifying performance against his world champion team mate this year gives a less “deceiving” reflection of his ability than the points gap.
Fernando Alonso out-scored Stroll by 206 points to 74 in their first season as team mates last year. The two-times world champion currently leads Stroll by 33 points to 11 after the first eight rounds.However the pair have out-qualified each other four times apiece over the eight qualifying sessions for grands prix so far this season. Stroll said that reflects his performance more accurately than last year’s points gap.
“He’s a two-time world champion and people see him as a top driver in Formula 1 and it’s four-four in quali,” Stroll told The Canadian Press. “The points are a little bit deceiving because sometimes one guy can have an engine failure,” he added. “That sometimes differentiates the points at the end of the season.”
Heading into his home race this weekend, Stroll has out-qualified Alonso for the last three grands prix running. “I look at my last few weekends, and I think they’ve been strong,” he said. “When I look at pace right now, and speed, like I said, four-four in quali. People say he’s super-good and I beat him the last few weekends, so take it as you want.”
Stroll’s father Lawrence owns the Aston Martin team. The driver said he was “not really” interested in driving for a rival outfit to disprove those who say he owes his place in the sport to his father.
“We’re on a super exciting trajectory and project as Aston Martin,” Stroll said. “I’m much more excited to be part of this journey than just going to another team to say that I could be driving somewhere else.”
Yesterday Stroll said he intends to continue driving for Aston Martin next year.
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Stroll vs Alonso in 2024
Stroll and Alonso are tied in qualifying performances but the world champion has finished ahead more often in grands prix so far this year. The pair have also out-qualified each other once each in sprint race qualifying sessions.
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Stroll vs Alonso in 2023
Last year Alonso out-qualified Stroll 19-3:
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2024 Canadian Grand Prix
- “He needs to be more careful”: Unheard radio messages from the Canadian Grand Prix
- Marko contradicts stewards’ reason for Red Bull and Perez penalties
- Only one F1 championship looks like a worthwhile fight in 2024
- Red Bull can fix kerb-riding without losing RB20’s major strengths – Verstappen
- Mercedes suspect Montreal track layout ‘made us look quicker’
Christopher Rehn (@chrischrill)
7th June 2024, 10:49
Sure, that’s fair. But what about his previous records? 2023 was a torrid season, Stroll is a pole sitter and the 2nd youngest podium finisher in F1 which is oft forgot. I remember his P2 in quali in awful rain at Monza a few years back, that was genuinely impressive. He just hasn’t shown that speed for years.
Andre
7th June 2024, 12:25
Performance in Monza is deceiving. Vettel won his first race for TR in Monza on rainy conditions. He was subsequently very successful, but look at his trajectory since 2014. Ricciardo won his last race a couple of years ago at Monza, and yet he was consistently beat by Lando. De Vries was put in the Alpha Tauri after his debut in Monza for Williams, and where is he now? Same for Stroll. P2 in qualifying in Monza, but what has materialized since?
MichaelN
7th June 2024, 13:00
What about it? He won more race for Ferrari than anyone but Schumacher and Lauda (who won just one more).
I won’t argue he was without flaws, and be might not have reached his ultimate peak again, but there was a very strong and long push for the narrative that ‘Ferrari is great, Vettel is bad, look at Lewis win in the slow Mercedes, go England!”. Even at Aston Martin Vettel took two 2nd places.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
7th June 2024, 21:57
I would say: anyone would’ve had difficulties winning 2017 in that ferrari, merc was a bit faster and more reliable on balance, it’d have been a hard task even for peak schumacher or alonso and vettel drove no worse than hamilton that season, however in 2018 the car was absolutely in league with mercedes and it’s vettel who threw away the title by spinning every other race.
On top of that, hamilton had a better season in 2018 than 2017, he generally fixed the underperforming weekends problem he had in 2017, where bottas simply drove around in the lead while he languished in 4th place.
SjaakFoo (@sjaakfoo)
7th June 2024, 13:09
P4 in qualifying*
Red Andy (@red-andy)
7th June 2024, 15:57
Stroll has always been good in the wet, and if he was driving a generation ago he’d probably be perceived as a Barrichello-type figure – lots of natural talent, as evidenced by his performance in wet weather, but too often off the pace in normal conditions. Unfortunately for Stroll he drives in an era where wet racing is effectively banned, so he has no opportunity to showcase his skill in those conditions.
someone or something
7th June 2024, 16:41
Not really, though. Two of his freak performances (4th in quali in Monza back in 2017, pole in Istanbul in 2020) came about in wet conditions, true. But if you look at other wet sessions during his career, some of them during the same seasons as the ones that keep getting brought up, he was just as useless in them as the rest of the time, sometimes even more so.
Where was Stroll when the rain hit Monaco last year, and Alonso threatened Verstappen’s lead? In the wall, in the exit road, but definitely not in contention.
Where was Stroll when the rain soaked the track at Zandvoort last year, and Alonso was the only car in Verstappen’s mirrors? A lowly 11th, barely ahead of Hülkenberg’s hopeless Haas.
Qualifying for the 2023 Canadian GP, Alonso in P3? Stroll wasn’t even in Q3, a distant 13th, almost two seconds adrift of his own team mate.
Similar story in 2022:
Japanese GP – Vettel 6th, Stroll 12th, almost half a minute adrift.
I was surprised to find that the Singapore GP was an exception – Stroll narrowly out-qualifying Vettel (P12) and finishing narrowly ahead in the race, in P6 no less.
So, I wholeheartedly disagree: The only way to arrive at such a conclusion is through cherry-picking. Stroll’s most eye-catching results may have come in the wet, but they’re few and far in between, and outnumbered by poor performances, in terms of results and compared to his team mates. The conclusion is that wet sessions are inherently a bit more random than dry sessions, and not always does an occasional over-performance serve as proof of a special talent.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
7th June 2024, 21:59
Indeed, I’ve also noticed that in recent times and if we’re looking at best results, then stroll had a podium in baku 2017, that chaos race where ricciardo won from very far back and many people made mistakes, stroll kept out of trouble and that’s why he got a podium, he was even close to getting 2nd place but was overtaken by bottas at the finish line.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
7th June 2024, 22:00
Oh, and I forgot to say, that podium was in the dry.
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
7th June 2024, 21:23
good in the wet typically means your car isn’t great in the dry. Although some teams like RBR are both.
someone or something
7th June 2024, 16:00
In that case, you’re misremembering. He was never P2 in quali, he was 4th that day. He did line up on the front row because the two Red Bulls ahead of him took engine-related penalties.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
7th June 2024, 22:01
Ah, yes, indeed, I remember, a really great performance by red bull to still be so competitive despite knowing they’d start towards the back.
Tristan
7th June 2024, 10:55
Always good for a laugh Stroll is. If he ever wins the championship I’m switching off from F1 for good. Wouldn’t care whatever contrived justifications are made. He is the poster boy for riding your parents coat tails.
Mayrton
7th June 2024, 11:56
Although I agree, I don’t think I will tune out.. a regulatory change may accidentally lead to a Brown-Mercedes season and then Lance might do a Button depending on who he has as a team mate by then. It just might happen. Horror scenario.
F1statsfan (@f1statsfan)
7th June 2024, 16:17
Who of the current or recent F1 grid would not beat Stroll over a season?
If I look since 2019 season only below names (less than 5 races are excluded) I can see with Stroll having a fighting chance – some Stroll is clearly better at others I am not too sure but it is possible:
* Nikata Mazapin
* Logan Sargeant
* Guanyu Zhou
* Nick de Vries
* Mick Schumacher
* Nicholas Latifi
* Antonio Giovinazzi
* Romain Grosjean
* Kevin Magnussen
Janith
7th June 2024, 17:14
Don’t forget Kimi Raikkonen and the current Daniel Ricciardo
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
7th June 2024, 22:02
Was raikkonen that bad in the closing stages of his career? Didn’t think so.
Shimks (@shimks)
7th June 2024, 19:35
That is excellent, Tristan.
What a fool this 25-year-old is, making such a vacuous remark that only invites more ridicule. It reveals his mindset perfectly—he truly believes in himself, doesn’t he? That’s what you call blind faith. But improvement is out of reach for him; he’s never shown any aptitude for learning from his mistakes. Clearly, Lawrence is no Jos!
Mayrton
8th June 2024, 15:36
I am totally for Stroll not being in F1, but looking from Lawrence perspective.. well you have a team and you have a son that races and is definitely no top driver but is also not bad enough to not let him drive. I mean, he does get along during races and isn’t always last. He is(/might be) even better than the ones listed by F1statsfan above. It is your family’s team and he is your son. I think I would put him in too. Especially when paired to former greats, which ensures team growth and son’s growth. It turns out to not improve him a lot, which is unfortunate but the base level is still enough as long as the team is not fighting for the title.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
7th June 2024, 11:11
Nah, I don’t think so. Alonso’s last 3 GPs were quite bad overall, not just qualifying. And even still, they were closely matched. Yet when Alonso outqualified him, he was in another category.
MacLeod (@macleod)
7th June 2024, 13:57
It’s almost like Alonso is switched off now the car is underparr?
tielemst
7th June 2024, 14:21
Or he’s got a bonus coming if he doesn’t show up Lance too much.
someone or something
7th June 2024, 16:45
Yeah, the only thing the current qualifying record shows, is how much Alonso’s last races were. He started the season as his usual self, fighting against cars Stroll only recognises from the trackside screens, but has been unrecognisable in the last few races, dropping back to Stroll’s depressing mid-field level.
Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
7th June 2024, 11:14
Yes … well … it’s not like the other teams are knocking at your door is it Lance?
Laz
7th June 2024, 11:36
Nevermind that Stroll continued to not make Q3 and qualify in his typical position. That it was in fact Alonso just having a couple off weekends qualifying well below where he typically qualifies.
When Stroll finally beats teammate in a qualifying head to head across a season, then he can get back to us on showing his true speed.
Jose Sampedro
7th June 2024, 15:52
Completely agree. It reflects a rare couple of uncharacteristically off performances by Fernando, rather than saying much about Stroll’s “true speed”. I believe even Fernando himself admitted to having had a couple of relative low driving performances, car and circumstances aside.
Cranberry
7th June 2024, 12:13
Looks like Babby found a statistic that, at the time of looking at it, shows him in a good light.
It’s a good thing most people are not stuck in a state of perpetual childhood, living off Papa’s money, without a single care in the world. Anyone would have the memory of a Gold Fish if they too were not required to earn their keep.
With Babby having now made it public that he intends to be in F1, how poetic would it be for someone like Alex Albon to finally replace him? Sainz, perhaps?
Would such poetry be enough to wipe the smug off his face? Doubtful, Papa has too much money for that ever to be a realistic fear.
mars
7th June 2024, 12:16
This is most likely a temporary situation related to Alonso’s poor form rather than Lance’s success.
BC
7th June 2024, 13:01
I don’t like all the bitterness towards Stroll. There’s fair criticism, and then there’s unnecessary vitriol stemming from jealousy. Formula 1 is not a welfare program and I couldn’t care less if he’s there by virtue of his father; who is putting a lot of time and money into revitalising what was (always and is potentially still) a moribund British company. This is a sport that runs in dictatorships and no doubt has all sorts of dodgy goings on; the owner’s right to choose drivers is really not going to make the list of F1’s most ethically dubious aspects.
So what if another talented driver has to ‘settle’ for earning six or early seven figures in sports car/prototype racing? The violin must surely be very small.
With his F3 championship and skill in the rain he certainly has talent, but just lacks consistency and occasionally makes stupid mistakes like in this year’s China. Does he deserve the seat? No. Is that such a big problem? Not really.
I also wonder to what extent Lance Stroll WDC is actually the domineering Lawrence Stroll’s dream rather than his own.
I think it would be best if Lance gets put in the Valkyrie Hypercar program, in which he’d probably be more competitive and wouldn’t face all the criticism. Aston could then find someone better suited to F1, hopefully coinciding with a strong 2026 car helped by Honda and all the Silverstone investment.
Tristan
7th June 2024, 23:22
That bit gets me thinking. You agree that he doesn’t deserve the seat, but don’t see that as a problem?
It’s an interesting mindset for sure. But if F1 wants to sell itself as the pinnacle of motorsports, it’s a disservice to itself and it’s fans to have drivers that don’t deserve to be there.
BC
9th June 2024, 12:07
I sympathise with your position, but I certainly don’t see it as Stroll specific. You could argue it also applies to Sargeant, Perez, Ricciardo (although he’s just qualified well), Magnussen…
The real problems in F1 as I see it is sub-par TV presentation (and particularly the lack of F1 TV in the UK), some dreadful circuits, and probably the cars being too big and not loud/tuneful enough.
The fact that it’s not 100% a meritocracy doesn’t really bother me. Life is unfair, and if a top calibre driver misses out on an F1 seat his life is likely still going to be in the top 0.001% of lives ever lived.
Edvaldo
7th June 2024, 13:07
He’s bragging about a tie with a 43 year old driver.
Probably the only not so bad stat he could find.
F1statsfan (@f1statsfan)
7th June 2024, 16:26
Already bragging after just 8 races – ignoring rest of season and all of last season when the score was Stroll 3 and Alonso 19.
Also who cares he outqualified Alonso 4 times and 3 times in a row in last races – race results still show Stroll 2 and Alonso 6 with over the last 3 races in which he qualified ahead all 3 times he only finished once ahead.
Think Stroll needs to ask Leclerc what is more important – Leclerc can say he outqualified Max in 2022 with 9 poles to 7 poles and 12 – 10 in qualifying ahead.
Yet in terms of Wins it was 15 for Max and 3 for Leclerc and finished ahead 16 Max & 6 Leclerc.
Leroy (@g-funk)
7th June 2024, 13:21
So at the end of the year, when the stats are more representative of the actual differences, and Alonso is once again shown to be dominant, what will Stroll use as his excuse then? I’m getting tired of hearing from Aston how he deserves his place in the team and yet, his “talking on the track” when it matters (Sunday), shows quite the opposite.
Coventry Climax
7th June 2024, 14:23
Unfortunately for him, its still called the Grand Prix Championship, and not the Qualifying Championship.
Although I wouldn’t be surprised if Stroll senior is already giving away money here and there just to have that ‘rectified’.
On another note, we don’t hear Stroll senior now, tellinge everyone how extremely unlucky Alonso has been during qualifying this season.
But then maybe that too, has to do with money changing hands – all legally and as per contract ofcourse, saying Jr. can not be beaten by too much of a margin.
What an utter farce F1 has become.
Maciek (@maciek)
7th June 2024, 14:34
Self delusion is great when your dad can afford it.
Tristan
7th June 2024, 23:24
There’s a saying to the effect of the difference between confidence and craziness is money. I think it’s very true in this case.
Tommy C (@tommy-c)
7th June 2024, 14:44
I’ve felt Alonso has been a bit out of sorts these last few races. It must be pretty galling for him to find Aston Martin losing out so comprehensively in the development race to McLaren and Ferrari in particular. This time last year I reckon he was envisaging a title fight for 2024. Instead he’s languishing in the bottom end of the points at best. It seems strange to suggest he may be lacking motivation a bit at the moment and I can’t blame him really…
Pinak Ghosh (@pinakghosh)
7th June 2024, 14:57
Yep. Seems to be lacking motivation now that Mclaren and Ferrari have edged forward in car development. But I still think that even if the car is slightly on pace with the leaders, he would no doubt be there knocking for a podium place.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
7th June 2024, 22:21
Remember he had a chance to go and attack verstappen in canada 2023, and the team told him to preserve the tyres or something like that, and again I thought: why would you even do that, the one chance you have to go for a win?
Same goes for the conservative pit strategy in monaco 2023, if there’s a possibility to win go for it, since many teams don’t see championship fights for decades, if ever; aston martin might be one of the latter category.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
7th June 2024, 22:24
A lot of people said: lawrence stroll is investing in a new facility, a lot of things, they’re gonna be more competitive, but we have plenty of examples where money doesn’t mean everything in f1, toyota spent massive amounts and was really uncompetitive, and ferrari tended to be the team that spent the most before the budget cap, yet was regularly outperformed by either red bull or merc, as soon as they hit their stride.
Pinak Ghosh (@pinakghosh)
7th June 2024, 14:51
Lol…
Let’s see some stats:
Lance Stroll 74 GPs with Aston Martin F1, 0 podiums, 0 fastest lap
Fernando Alonso 30 GPs with Aston Martin F1, 8 podiums, 2 fastest laps
Janith
7th June 2024, 17:16
We are talking about the 2024 season man
Dale
7th June 2024, 18:26
Hahaha … talk about clutching at straws to justify your place in the sport.
Just face it Lance, without daddy’s money, you would never have made it out of karting with your ‘natural talent’