Aston Martin

Stroll makes MASSIVE Alonso admission amidst struggles

Strolls admits he needs to pull up his socks and catch Alonso

Jay Winter

Friday 18 August 2023 10:57

Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll has insisted he isn't focussed on the 'noise' surrounding his Formula 1 seat, but rather on closing the massive gap to his world championship team-mate Fernando Alonso.

Stroll finds himself 102 points behind Alonso after just 12 races in the 2023 season.

The 24-year-old overcame severe wrist injuries at the start of the season to score points in what proved to be a highly competitive Aston Martin car.

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Although the Canadian driver has had some moments of brilliance across his career, his father's ownership at Aston Martin grossly overshadows his achievements.

At age 18 and 239 days, Stroll is the second-youngest driver to finish on the podium

Despite his six years of F1 experience, Stroll has provided a fraction of what his team-mate has provided for the team in green this season, resulting in a fair amount of criticism being thrown his way.

Speaking to Motorsport Magazine, the Canadian driver opened up on what it's like to have his father's position at times overcast his career.

“I don’t really pay too much attention to that," he said.

"I know more myself deep down when I do a good job, and I extract the most from the car. Whether I’m ahead or behind them I know when I should be patting myself on the shoulder, or the first one to kind of criticise myself in a constructive way, learn from it and come back stronger."

Stroll submits to Alonso's ability

The former Williams driver also spoke on the alarming gap between himself and Alonso and whether that is affecting him.

“I know that there’s been a lot of races where I felt like I maybe got the most out of the car, and he was a little bit quicker, and that’s just how it is," he said.

"There are other times where I really drove well and I was in front of him a couple of times. So, yeah, I’m proud of that. But for sure, he’s been at a very high level throughout the year, he’s made very few mistakes – no mistakes – and you have to give him credit for that, because he’s been driving at an extremely high level, and really getting the most out of the car every week.

“He’s just been at a really high level throughout the whole season, and delivering that kind of A-plus kind of performance every week, when I’ve had a few kind of A’s, but I’ve had some Cs and it’s been a little bit more challenging. But a lot of racing left to go.

Alonso sits third in the driver's championship with 149 points and six podiums to his name

“But like I said, I’m kind of more just focused on my own stuff, I’m not really listening to too much of that noise on the outside, because it’s F1," he said.

"When you have a bad day, there’s always going to be a reason why, when you have a good day, it’s kind of just normal. I think that’s how a lot of F1 is, or my experience of it over the years."

Despite Aston Martin's promising start to the 2023 season, their form has begun to massively tail off.

After being overtaken by Mercedes in the constructors' championship, Lawrence Stroll's team will be worried about McLaren as they appeared to have found the secret sauce.

“Hopefully we get back to a stage where we’re that competitive," said Stroll.

"I do believe we can do that. I mean, it definitely didn’t help to miss 250 laps of testing or whatever it was, and just be physically not at my best earlier on in the season. However, I think more than my injury we probably got hurt more by bad fortune on the track."

Aston Martin will be looking for their first podium in five races at the Dutch Grand Prix when F1 returns from the summer break.