Lance Stroll has accumulated just three points in the last five rounds, as Aston Martin struggles to maintain its early-season F1 form. The Canadian is also finding it difficult to match teammate Fernando Alonso – although team principal Mike Krack remains confident in his abilities.
The 24-year-old received plenty of praise when the year began in Bahrain, surprising the F1 world by showing significant resolve to recover from a pre-season injury.
Unfortunately for Stroll, the distance between himself and Alonso continues to grow throughout 2023. Focus soon diverted from Stroll’s impressive recovery to the increasingly large points gap between the two drivers.
Alonso is over 100 points ahead of his teammate, securing almost 80% of Aston Martin’s points this season. Most metrics of F1 performance (such as race head-to-heads) are very much against the podium finisher.
Mike Krack recently dismissed suggestions Stroll could be replaced, and the 51-year-old has further emphasised his support:
“When you look at the qualifying session, in Q1 at Zandvoort, for example, there was nothing between them.
“I don’t think that there is any particular characteristic that is different for him than for Fernando. He can be just the same [as Alonso],” he explained to the media.
“We had all the discussions when Sebastian [Vettel] joined the team, and that went pretty well.
“So there is no reason why it should not be the same.”
Most reports doubting Stroll’s place for 2024 were speculative at best. At worst, they were completely unfounded.
With that said, it is not unreasonable for a driver at a top-performing team to be scrutinised for their F1 performances. Such expectations come with the territory of racing at the pinnacle.
Ferrari also jumped Aston Martin in the team standings last weekend, a development that further sparked conversation about Aston’s driver line-up.
Regardless of any paddock noise, Stroll’s position on the grid is safe – at least for now.
Author: Jaden Diaz-Ndisang
