The 2024 Japanese Grand Prix was extremely frustrating from Lance Stroll’s point of view, especially towards the end. The Canadian was stuck behind Yuki Tsunoda and was unable to pass him before the chequered flag was waved. The Japanese driver finished the race in P10 to score points at home for the first time. But Stroll could have stopped his heroics with his soft compounds in the last stint. The only reason he couldn’t was because, of the “wrong adjustment for my rear wing”, among other issues he faced which he revealed in a post-race conversation. However, the Aston Martin TP Mike Krack has contradicted the Canadian’s stance and revealed the real reason behind his frustrations.
Stroll also complained about the top speed of his Aston Martin challenger. However, as per the data, the VCARB01 of Tsunoda was merely 0.8 mph faster than the Canadian’s AMR24. Instead, the issue lay with the tires and the race conditions. After pushing on his softs and making rapid overtakes, Stroll burned out his fresh rubber leading to his frustration.
Speaking to Motorsport.com, Krack explained the scenario and said, “What you see is that there is a very small difference between the top speeds across the entire field. But at different times in the race, you do have differences between the condition of the tires and the acceleration out of the corners. Such comments arise from such situations. If you look at the data in terms of power, you see that all the cars are very similar. But the tire status differs during the race.”
On top of the on-track conditions, Lance Stroll can blame himself for his miseries as the Canadian botched his qualifying. Despite being in an upgraded Aston Martin, which was evidently Q3 capable, Stroll was knocked out in Q1. Starting towards the back in P16, he was already in for a difficult outing in Suzuka and that’s exactly what his race panned out.
He expressed his frustrations during the race as well when he got on his radio to criticize the straight-line speed. “It’s unbelievable how bad our speed is on the straight,” Stroll was heard shouting on the radio. Continued frustrations for the Canadian which highlights the uncertainty surrounding his future in the sport once again.
Experts suggest Lawrence Stroll cut his losses with Lance Stroll as performances pile on the misery
Lawrence Stroll has made his son’s place in F1 and his team permanent since 2019, but so far it’s hurting them. So for a couple of years now, experts have suggested the Canadian billionaire to replace his son if he wants to achieve the ultimate F1 goal. Experts like Joe Saward said, “There will come a point when Lawrence, or Lance Stroll, has to ask himself if they want to keep doing this because he’s not good enough.”
His output in 2024 so far is sadly proving Saward right. In the first four rounds, the Canadian driver has finished three and scored points in just two. He has scored only 9 points with his best result coming in Australia so far. It gets worse when we pit Lance with his teammate, Fernando Alonso.
The Spaniard has made light work of his teammate. Since 2023, Stroll finished ahead of Alonso in only 4 races. The qualifying head-to-head makes Stroll look worse as he out-performed his teammate only thrice with Alonso faster over one lap on 19 occasions. In 2024? It’s 3-1 in favor of Alonso in both qualifying and race results.
Any other driver in any other team would be looking at the exit door or at least be extremely concerned about their long-term future in the sport. However, with continued criticism, we might see Lance Stroll sweat as well with the pressure piling on. With yet another disappointing race result, the Canadian needs to pull up his socks soon.
