Aston Martin is having a bittersweet 2023 F1 season. While Fernando Alonso is at the top of his game, his teammate Lance Stroll is barely a shadow of him. Despite having the same car, the Canadian driver has failed to keep up with his veteran teammate. This led to Stroll facing repeated criticism time and time again. However, former F1 champion Nico Rosberg has some positive words for the Aston Martin driver via Motosport Turkey.
The 24-year-old driver has been off-color throughout the season. At the time when Alonso had been on the back-to-back podium-taking spree, Stroll mostly found himself without points or in the barrier.
Alonso’s reactions still as good as they ever were 💪#JapaneseGP @awscloud #F1Insights pic.twitter.com/sUGmMoWlnY
— Formula 1 (@F1) September 25, 2023
Apart from his inability to support his teammate and the team, Stroll also found himself with a major embarrassment. The Canadian driver gave Aston Martin a bill of over $2 million, citing the crash damages. Despite this, Rosberg believes in Stroll’s potential against Alonso.
Nico Rosberg has faith in Lance Stroll despite poor show
Rosberg, the former Mercedes star, was full of praise for the young Stroll. Even after the drastic difference in points, the German former driver believes in Stroll’s capabilities when set against the two-time world champion.
Talking about this, the 2016 F1 champion said, as per Motorsport Turkey, “Lance Stroll is a very good driver and she showed at the beginning of the season how close he can be to Fernando.”
Lance Stroll’s horrific crash at the Singapore GP 😬
The Aston Martin driver was immediately taken to the medical station to be treated after the horrible crash that immediately resulted in a RED FLAG 🟥
Stroll is unsure whether he still be competing tomorrows F1 GrandPrix✅ pic.twitter.com/OGfS6SKQXI
— Forberge (@forbergenews) September 16, 2023
Admittedly, the first six races in the 2023 F1 season saw Alonso have five podium finishes. Meanwhile, in the same AMR23 and the same number of races, Stroll has only one top-five finish.
How does Stroll fare against Stroll?
According to the 2023 Drivers’ Championship, Fernando Alonso currently stands in P4 with 174 points with an impressive seven podiums to his name. He was overtaken by Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes in P3 very recently.
Compared to him, Lance Stroll is in P11 with 47 points. His best finish was in P4 in the 2023 Australian Grand Prix, which saw as many as eight DNFs. Therefore, he is undoubtedly the weak link for Aston Martin in terms of the Constructors’ championship, which Lando Norris wants to exploit.
The Silverstone-based team was the second-fastest team after the first race in Bahrain. Now, they are on the verge of slipping down to P5 as McLaren eyes an impressive P4 finish after their mega resurgence.
