19/10/2023
NEWS STORY
Lance Stroll's issues this season have mainly been down to bad luck, insists his father.
Whatever way you look at it, it's been a pretty awful season for the Canadian youngster. After 17 races (though he missed the Singapore race after crashing out in qualifying) Stroll is 136 points adrift of his teammate, Fernando Alonso, with his best result being a 4th in Melbourne.
A cycling accident meant he missed pre-season testing, which admittedly makes his 6th-place finish in Bahrain all the more impressive, but for the most part it has been a lacklustre year, especially considering his teammate's seven visits to the podium.
"Lance started the year on the back foot with two broken wrists for the first half-dozen races, which was very challenging," says his father, Aston Martin team owner, Lawrence Stroll, "but he really did a heroic job.
"He's had an unfortunate amount of bad luck," Stroll Snr tells Sky Sports. "He's had nine retirements due to engine failures, or a rear-wing fail.
"Half of the races it hasn't been anything to do with his own abilities," he adds, "he has just had a lot of bad luck, sadly."
Since the summer, the Silverstone-based outfit has lost ground to its rivals, and having been leapfrogged by Mercedes and Ferrari is now under intense pressure from McLaren.
Nonetheless, while Alonso has continued to fight the fight, Stroll's season has gone from bad to worse, scoring just 3 points from the last seven races.
While Stroll Jnr cites the upgrades introduced earlier this season as not working in his favour, team boss, Mike Krack isn't entirely convinced.
"I think we need to prove that first," said the German. "The fact is that he has lost a bit of competitivity, and this is something we need to understand.
"We have suspicions and indications, and this is I think what Lance is referring to. But then we need to make the according changes and see, if this is confirmed, that if you improve that, he improves as well."