Lance Stroll gets better every race: 'It's a constant evolution'
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- Ludo van Denderen
Lance Stroll has received plenty of criticism in recent years. The Aston Martin Canadian has since learned to deal with the fact that it is mainly his low points that are highlighted. At times, when Stroll manages to almost maximise the potential of his AMR24 (like the last few weeks), there is mostly silence. No compliments, nothing at all. The fact that Stroll now regularly manages to get very close to his experienced colleague Fernando Alonso is undoubtedly partly due to the fact that Stroll is currently comfortable in his own skin.
In Formula 1, a significant part of success - or lack thereof - comes from feeling good or not. Stroll, now in his eighth season in the sport, has experienced enough ups and downs to agree. Key in that, according to the Canadian, is being able to be one with the car you are driving. "I think it's always important to have confidence when you're in the car," he explained after being asked by GPblog.
"When you're not confident in the car, that's when you just can't like really push it and lean on it, they're not comfortable to drive, so you really depend on the car giving you the confidence to lean on it, to come off the brake, carry speed, get back on the power as early as possible. I wouldn't say it's different than other cars, that's what you're always looking for in a race. I think they're more uncomfortable in the body for sure, being stiff. I think that definitely is a factor for sure when you're driving and you're talking about that confidence thing."
Stroll sees Aston Martin seizing opportunities now
Entering the summer break, Stroll is tenth in the championship, with two points more than Nico Hulkenberg (Haas) and Yuki Tsunoda (VCARB). Given Aston Martin's ambitions, Stroll might have hoped for more, but all in all, the Aston Martin driver is satisfied. "Everything can always be better. I think I'm happy that we've been able to score points as a team, we capitalized throughout the year and we scored some points."
"I think there were still some missed opportunities earlier in the season for some points. But, a lot of racing to go and, always trying to just improve in every area. Improve setting up the car to be as good as it can be, improve qualifying, improve the race, it's a never-ending evolution," Stroll said.