Aston Martin, which excelled at the beginning of the season, has collapsed in formula one because of Lance Stroll, writes Urheilu’s Joel Sippola.
Joel Sippola sports reporter
Back in June, after the eighth F1 race of the season in Montreal, Canada, it would have been difficult to see a scenario where Aston Martin, the bright spot of the early season, collapses outside the top four teams in the manufacturers’ World Series.
A two-time world champion, Fernando Alonso the team he starred in was the second fastest team in the series for a long time, and after Montreal, it was solidly third in team points. The difference to McLaren, who was only sixth at that moment, was no less than 137 points.
Ten races later, the situation has fluctuated drastically. After Sunday’s race in Austin, the traditional McLaren overtook Aston Martin for the first time this season and moved to fourth in the manufacturers’ series.
McLaren, which received a hard development package for the Silverstone race, has been the best team after Red Bull for the rest of the season, but the loss of such a huge point advantage cannot be explained only by the goodness of the competitor.
The team’s leading star Fernando Alonso gets more than clean papers from his season. The Spanish driver has achieved seven podium places, six of which came in the first eight races.
Even though Aston Martin has not been able to match the speed of its fiercest competitors during the season, Alonso has been able to squeeze everything possible out of the car. Even at the age of 42, he has shown why some still talk about his championship potential.
Alonso’s shadow
When talking about the collapse of Aston Martin, the eyes turn to the other driver of the team, the Canadian To Lance Stroll. Stroll, already in his seventh season in the series, is one of the biggest underperformers this season.
In terms of points, the distance behind teammate Alonso is drastic, 130 points. The gap between Alonso and Stroll in both qualifying and race pace is one of the biggest in the series among teammates.
Stroll’s seven-season F1 career has been tinged by a paid driver and a billionaire father By Lawrence Stroll the stamp brought. Stroll has been seen to have jumped into formula one with his father’s resources. At least the performances on the track haven’t dampened the talk in question.
Lawrence Stroll is a co-owner of the Aston Martin F1 team.
In the opening years of his F1 career at Williams, Stroll did not put up any amazing performances. In 2018, father Stroll bought Aston Martin’s predecessor Racing Point, which was in financial difficulties, and cleared his son’s stable by Esteban Ocon to the place. In 2019–2020, teammate Perez clearly overshadowed Stroll.
Over the next two seasons, Stroll looked like a four-time world champion who had lost his motivation Sebastian Vettel’s alongside reality from a better driver. However, Alonso has mercilessly shown Stroll’s true level this season.
From the start of the season, Stroll had the fastest car of his career so far. Whereas Alonso reached the podium seven times, his team mate was at best fourth once in the corresponding races, but was left out of the points four times.
An advantage over the worst competitors
Lawrence Stroll has set the world championship as Aston Martin’s future goal.
A team aiming for the top spots would need another driver who can maximize the car’s potential. If Stroll had been able to make better use of Aston Martin’s early season speed, the lead over McLaren would have been much greater.
Along with the drivers’ World Series, the manufacturers’ championship also has significant value. In terms of money, an improvement of one place in the World Cup points battle can bring about ten million dollars more in prize money at the end of the season.
In addition to the rapidly developing McLaren, Aston Martin’s main opponents this season have been Mercedes and Ferrari, who are fighting for second place in the Manufacturers’ World Series. Everyone except Aston Martin has an equally strong driver duo.
McLaren has Lando Norris and Oscar Piastriwith Mercedes Lewis Hamilton & George Russell and Ferrari Charles Leclerc & Carlos Sainz. If Aston Martin is to drive for the world championship in the future, it will need an equally high-quality pair of harnesses. Stroll has shown that you cannot get fire support from him.
In F1 circles, however, Lance Stroll’s team position is not considered threatened as long as the father is included in the team’s ownership plans. Lawrence Stroll is ready to lose business because of his son.
And that’s why Aston Martin will never become a championship-level F1 team under Stroll.