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

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.