Fernando Alonso has come to the defence of teammate Lance Stroll, emphasising his importance to Aston Martin. The Double World Champion explains that the Canadian is able to provide important feedback to the team. This is consistent with reports from earlier this week, where Aston pointed to Stroll’s technical feedback as part of the value he provides.
In such a dynamic driver market, questions are inevitably posed towards all the teams. With Alonso extending his contract with the Silverstone-based team, his future is now clear. For the foreseeable future, he will work to lead Aston Martin to the front. However, the status of his teammate has been thrown into question.
First came reports of Aramco’s interest in buying the British outfit. It was speculated that fresh ownership could spell the end of Stroll’s time on the team. However, this takeover is still far away. What could have an impact, however, is Honda playing a role in driver selection.
It has been suggested that the Japanese manufacturer could encourage Aston to sign someone else alongside Alonso. Indeed, Honda explained this week that both sides must openly discuss what is “missing” to achieve F1 success. Whilst not an explicit reference to driver line-up, this is undoubtedly what some have inferred.
Still, a new driver at Aston Martin would still be a surprise. Across the board, indications from Silverstone indicate the Canadian is valued.
ALONSO COMES TO STROLL’S DEFENCE
When speaking to the media in Shanghai, Fernando Alonso discussed his teammate’s technical input:
“I think we have two different driving styles in some conditions. We have two different feelings in the car. I think Lance is a lot more sensitive to things than I am.
“Which is, I think, very important for the team. I think the analysis that Lance can reach and feedback to the team is crucial to us and to improve the car.
“I am a little bit insensitive to things sometimes, and this is not a good thing – I think we both are trying to help Aston as much as we can. And I think the direction we develop the car and finalise the set-up on a weekend is exactly the same.
“We arrive to the same conclusions, maybe in a different way. I think those different styles are just a good thing for Aston.
“Sometimes I drive the car around the problems that we have. Sometimes, that’s a good thing because I can drive any car at any moment and extract 90% of it.
“But to extract 100% of the car sometimes, I am not able to without the help from my teammate. On the special details of the set-up, or balance problems here and there. So I think we benefit from each other in many different ways.”
