'I have to figure out how to go faster round the corner than Fernando'

Aston Martin has an absolutely top driver in Fernando Alonso. Twice world champion, 32 Grands Prix to his name. These are figures Lance Stroll can only dream of. Although the Canadian drives a competitive car, he cannot approach the performance of his experienced teammate.

Of course, at the start of the season, Stroll had the (justified) excuse of his injuries after his unfortunate bike accident. While Alonso had been able to put in the necessary mileage during testing, Stroll really had to start the season from scratch in Bahrain. Without any experience with the new Aston Martin, the Canadian had to start immediately. Yet even over the course of the season, Stroll did not come close to Alonso, who has already reached the podium six times.

For now, a fourth-place finish in Australia is the highlight of his season. "I think this year is honestly a lot of things that are out of our control that have really affected us. And I think if we have clean weekends, the results will be better. That’s what I honestly believe, but also just getting more out of the car and driving a bit faster because right now Fernando has generally been faster than me. So I have to figure out how to go a little bit faster round the corners. Simple… That’s what we’re here to do, right?"

Especially on social media, there is regular criticism of Stroll and how he performs. Lance - the son of team owner Lawrence - does not care. He simply tries to improve every race: "I don’t read the stuff, so it doesn’t frustrate me… You’re on social media, I’m not during the week! I’m playing Xbox with my friends or – I used to mountain bike but I’m not allowed to do that anymore! In the winter, I’m snowboarding. I’m on the golf course, playing tennis. I’m doing other things that I can’t really speak about in the interview… So I mean, there’s not a lot of time to be on social media."