mobile app bar

Guenther Steiner Thinks Lance Stroll “Panicked” at the Sao Paulo GP

Anirban Aly Mandal
Published

STROLL Lance (can), Aston Martin F1 Team AMR24, portrait during the Formula 1 Grande Premio de Sao Paulo 2024, 21th round of the 2024 Formula One World Championship, from November 1 to 3, 2024 on the Interlagos Circuit

Lance Stroll has never made it easy for himself in Formula 1. Despite having a stellar junior racing career, the Canadian driver has been always in the bad books of fans and critics for his lack of performance — often being termed as a pay driver because of his father, Lawrence Stroll’s financial efforts to give him a racing seat. The 2024 Sao Paulo GP was yet another instance when Stroll let himself and Aston Martin down.

After a hefty crash in qualifying, Stroll would have wanted to make amends for his team and mechanics in the Grand Prix. But the #18 driver could not even make it to the start after he beached his AMR24 in the gravel during the formation lap.

Speaking about this bizarre incident, on the Red Flags podcast, former Haas F1 team principal, Guenther Steiner explained that it was a “brain fart” on the Canadian’s end. “I think he panicked,” said the Italian-American.

“He did something stupid during the training round and then didn’t take back control of what he did,” he added. Stroll himself did not have much feedback to give about how and why he first spun off the road and then ended up in the gravel trap.

As a result, the #18 driver did not even participate in the race. His teammate, Fernando Alonso, on the other hand, then tried to take the mantle of the team’s expectations on his shoulders. But even he came up short — finishing effectively second last (70+ seconds behind the race winner, Max Verstappen).

The race last weekend could have been the perfect opportunity for the Silverstone-based team to seal P5 in the Constructors’ championship. However, with Alpine’s phenomenal 2-3 result at Interlagos, Aston Martin could potentially slip further down the order.

With three races still remaining on the calendar, this season, the Enstone-based team sit only 37 points adrift of Aston Martin. It could take just one more weekend like in Brazil to propel Alpine into the top five.

Post Edited By:Aishwary Gaonkar

About the author

Anirban Aly Mandal

Anirban Aly Mandal

linkedin-icon

Anirban Aly Mandal is an F1 writer at The SportsRush, with over 1000 articles under his belt, Anirban's love for F1 started when he discovered a copy of F1 2014 on his computer. With over half a decade's worth of time spent religiously following the sport, he’s dived deep into the world of motorsports. However, Anirban's expertise goes beyond just writing - he has also written several academic papers focused on the domain of motorsports and the law. His passion for the sport is so immense that he aspires to work as a legal advisor in the most prestigious racing series in the world someday. When it comes to Formula 1, Anirban finds great pleasure in re-watching classic races and idolizes the likes of Ayrton Senna, Nigel Mansell, and Sebastian Vettel. His top picks include Brazil '91, Silverstone '92, and Germany '19. Outside of the sport, Anirban is an avid sim racer, often found racing on titles like Assetto Corsa, F1 22, and Automobilista. Apart from his interests in gaming, Anirban has a keen interest in philosophy, literature and music.

Share this article