Stroll “positive” despite regulation “hurt” at Aston Martin

Lance Stroll is “positive” Aston Martin can recover its form over the course of this season after being “hurt” by the recent regulation changes.

The team competed as Racing Point last year and won the penultimate Grand Prix of the season in Bahrain with Sergio Perez but has since slumped down the order due to new aerodynamic rules that do not suit its higher rake car.

Stroll said: “It’s always hard to expect how much you’re going to be hurt. It’s a relative game. I think we suspected that everyone would take a big hit from the regulation changes, that’s how it is for everyone, but when we turned up at first race we definitely saw we have been affected much more than the competition."

Restrictions on development during this season, coupled with new aerodynamic testing limits and a budget cap, will make it difficult for the team to claw back the losses quickly.

The changes were introduced after, due to Covid restrictions, it was feared Pirelli would be unable to develop a new trye construction that could cope with the ever-increasing loads.

Despite Pirelli defying the odds to produce the new tyres, the regulation changes stuck and ahead of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, team principal Otmar Szafnauer revealed he would speak with the FIA to request a dispensation for additional development during the season.

Following the talks, Szafnauer explained he was "pretty satisfied" the correct protocols had been followed in setting the regulations.

Stroll added: “There’s characteristic between the two philosophies and it turned out we lost a lot of [downforce] load relative to the higher rake cars with the regulation changes. That is grip, and that is lap time.

“Its early days. We have some ideas of what we can do to improve our package. I think it has a lot of potential. The year is still young. We saw a lot of our weaknesses in Bahrain and the areas we need to focus and improve.”

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