Stroll on the way back? 'He obviously struggled a bit'

The story is familiar: Stroll started the season behind schedule. A bike accident caused the team owner's son to miss testing, only to take his first seat in the Aston Martin at the season opener. A fourth-place finish in Australia is, for now, his best performance with a car known as second-best on the grid.

Compliments from Fallows

Dan Fallows, Aston Martin's technical director, spoke about Stroll in the run-up to the Montreal Grand Prix. First of all, he complimented him during the press conference: "Well the first thing to say is that it’s extraordinary that he managed to get into the car in Bahrain and put in the performance that he did," Fallows said.

But the technical director also sees how difficult it is for his driver at the moment, in the shadow of Alonso. "In subsequent races, yes, I mean he’s obviously been struggling a little bit with that and his fitness. But really, incredibly gutsy performances from him, particularly at the start of the season. He has to gain confidence with his driving and the way that he feels that his fitness is and the way he can respond to the car – but I think, frankly, it didn’t take him a great deal of time to get comfortable."

Meanwhile, the season has progressed to Grand Prix number nine, in just under two weeks' time in Austria. Looking purely at the results, there is still a battle to be fought. "I think he is much happier with the car now, he obviously feels much fitter in himself and I think the event in Spain particularly, demonstrated that," Fallows said.