F1 News
Lance Stroll already knows: Is Aston Martin's AMR25 a success?
- Ludo van Denderen
For the ten Formula 1 teams, the first day of winter testing is a huge day. For months, the factories have been tinkering and creating new cars for the 2025 season, and the opening day in Bahrain reveals whether they are good enough to have a significant role in the upcoming season.
Of course, none of the teams or the drivers are going to say immediately whether the car is good or not, but they themselves know if they will have a successful or challenging season. Lance Stroll, Aston Martin driver, for example, told GPblog and others in Bahrain on Wednesday that he normally knows quickly whether a car has potential. "Sometimes less than five laps," the Canadian said.
Fellow driver Esteban Ocon does not like to have his judgement ready so quickly. Reacting to Stroll, he said, "I think I am more patient. I wait a bit more," said the Haas F1 driver. "Really, everyone goes flat out at the first qualifying and then you know better."
"Of course, you start to take a little bit of information from everyone, try and dig into which one profile everyone did and you start to build a picture. But yes, I'm focusing on my side of the job and once you arrive into the first race anyway, that's when it matters. So we'll see."
Gasly sometimes does not need a lap to make a judgement
Pierre Gasly even went a step further than Stroll. He referred to Alpine's difficult year a year ago. "Well, it took us no laps last year to know it was going to be challenging. So I guess it's all into perspective. But yeah, we always know, like Q1 in Australia, then you get a better picture," Gasly said.
This article was written in collaboration with Olly Darcy
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