Aston Martin - fast, clean start "vital" for Imola weekend

Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll believes it "vital" the team 'gets out of the blocks' cleanly if it is to prove its potential at this weekend's second Formula 1 race of the season in Imola.

Stroll and new team-mate Sebastian Vettel, in particular, endured a troubled season-opening event in Bahrain, with the Canadian salvaging a 10th-place finish.

As for Vettel, the four-time F1 champion finished a miserable 15th after starting from the back of the grid, while he also collected five penalty points on his licence for two separate infringements. Imola threatens to be another problematic weekend for the team given its design that led to just six overtakes on its return to the calendar last year, although the length of the DRS zone has been increased for this year.

Assessing the weekend ahead, Stroll said: "As a team, I think we all wanted more last time out in Bahrain, so we’re all treating Imola as a fresh opportunity.

"We’ve seen that there’s a bunch of teams that are all extremely closely matched, so getting out of the blocks cleanly and running smoothly in every session will be vital if we want to make a difference.

“Imola was such a great challenge last year. It’s an incredibly fast circuit with so little run-off – the balance between risk and reward is immense, so it’s incredibly satisfying when you get it right."

With a three-week gap between the first two races, Vettel has revealed the team has used the time wisely to inspect where it can improve.

"It’s been good to have that little bit of an extra gap between these first two races – this year’s calendar won’t always be so forgiving," said Vettel.

"But that just gave us an extra opportunity to look at the data and understand where we need to improve the AMR21."

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