"When will he finally criticize Stroll?" - Fans react to Aston Martin boss placing the blame for Lance Stroll's poor season on the team

Lance Stroll had another poor race last week at Zandvoort, where he finished just out of the points in P11. However, Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack stated that the team was unable to place Stroll in the right strategy for a good position.

Speaking to the media, Krack stated that the decision to keep Lance Stroll on dry tires during wet conditions at the Dutch GP cost him several positions and points. Furthermore, he added that Aston Martin needs to do a much better job on Stroll's side of the garage to uplift the Canadian and give him enough chances to shine. He said (via formu1a.uno):

“It is a shame we did not optimise the race for Lance, and the decision to remain on dry tyres in the early stages cost him a chance of scoring points.

"As a team, we need to do a much better job on that side of the garage. We have also had reliability issues, and it was always on that car. So it is something we need to do better."

When these comments from Mike Krack surfaced on social media platforms, many F1 fans reacted strongly to them. They called out Krack and stated how he is never critical of Lance Stroll himself, whose poor performances are also a part of his condition in most races.

Some also discussed how Aston Martin's team principal and other seniors are intentionally not going against Lance Stroll, simply because he is the son of Aston Martin's owner, Lawrence Stroll.

Here are a few reactions:

"When will he finally criticize Stroll?"

"Nice of the team to take the blame on this but overall, all mechanics are on the top of their game so both cars should be pretty equal. That one car does good/great and the other doesn't, is perhaps the fault of the one behind the steeringwheel ? ;)"

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"Fernando has generally been faster than me" - Lance Stroll while summarizing his 2023 F1 season

Even though Lance Stroll does get some form of preferential treatment at Aston Martin since his father, Lawrence Stroll, owns the team, the Canadian himself is well aware of where he actually stands when compared to his teammate Fernando Alonso. Speaking to Motorsport Magazine, he summarized his season so far in 2023 and admitted that Alonso has been faster than him.

He said:

“I think this year is honestly a lot of things that are out of our control that have really affected us. And I think if we have clean weekends, the results will be better. That’s what I honestly believe, but also just getting more out of the car and driving a bit faster because right now Fernando has generally been faster than me.

"So I have to figure out how to go a little bit faster around the corners. Simple… That’s what we’re here to do, right?”

Lance Stroll is currently in ninth place in the drivers' championship with only 47 points, while Fernando Alonso is in third place with 168 points.