Lance Stroll would've been fighting for podium and pole if he had a 'winning car,' claims Aston Martin boss

Aston Martin team boss Mike Krack claims that despite popular belief, Lance Stroll has what it takes to fight for podiums and poles had he been given a "winning car". The Canadian driver has often been underestimated and described as a mere "pay driver," with very little credit given to his actual on-track performance.

As reported by PlanetF1, Krack emphasized that Stroll has done a good job of racing against Sebastian Vettel in the past two seasons and that he is wrongly judged based on his car, rather than his talent. He said:

“He raced against a four-time World Champion for two years and I think he did very well. But I don’t want to get involved in any ordering of drivers. Formula 1 is so strongly influenced by the cars. Let’s take Lance: He’s never had a winning car. If he had one, he was on the podium and on pole. I think that Formula 1 drivers are often judged on the basis of their cars.”

Aston Martin announced at the start of the summer break that two-time world champion Fernando Alonso will be replacing Sebastian Vettel, who announced that he will be retiring from F1 at the end of the 2022 season.

Speaking about Lance Stroll's reaction to the Spaniard joining Alpine in 2023, Krack added:

“He took it very positively. He sees that as a team we are striving to move forward and want to build better cars. It’s not a problem for him.”

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Lance Stroll "encouraged" by 2022 F1 Dutch GP result despite unlucky circumstances

Aston Martin showed exceptional pace last weekend at the 2022 F1 Dutch Grand Prix, with Lance Stroll poised to secure a strong result in the race. The Canadian, however, was one of the few drivers who became a victim of an untimely safety car, costing him a potential P7-finish in Zandvoort.

In a post-race media interaction, Stroll reflected on the weekend, emphasizing that he is beginning to gain confidence in his car. He said:

“Overall, it has been a positive weekend in terms of performance, but we were a little bit unlucky today with how things played out and how that affected our strategy.”

“The timing of the Safety Car gave the Alpines and [Lando] Norris the advantage: without that, we could have been fighting for seventh. Our pace was strong all weekend, I felt really confident in the car, and we were more competitive. That is really encouraging for the coming races. It has been a great push by the team back at the factory to make our car quicker, so hopefully, this is the start of a strong run through to the end of the season.”

Having finished the 2022 F1 Dutch GP in 10th place, Lance Stroll now stands eighteenth in the drivers' standings with a total of five points to his name.