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Stroll: "I felt good in the car and hooked it up"

19:00, 01 Sep 2018

byJake Williams-Smith

Lance Stroll says that his Q3 appearance was a complete surprise for the Williams team having struggled so much in 2018 so far. The Canadian put in a brilliant lap to get his car into the final qualifying session.

Speaking to media after qualifying, Stroll summarised the session as hard work and conditions all coming together to allow him to put in the laps.

“I think there it was all pretty straightforward today, I definitely don’t think we expected that coming into it, we expected a much more challenging session, but it all came together from Q1.

“The car felt good and we managed to get a good tow all the way throughout qualifying which helped us and I put a good lap in for Q2 to get into Q3. It was one of those days where it all just clicked.

“We’ve had a tough run and if you look at the results it hasn’t been very pleasant in the cockpit for a few months now but today I was really pleased for everyone and really happy for us as a team. We really deserve this result. It was of those days where I can a good chemistry with the car and I felt good in the car and hooked it up. It worked out.”

Stroll's future with the team remains very much up in the air with rumours suggesting a late-season change to Force India after his father Lawrence's investment in the team.

Regardless of his future, he reaffirmed that he was focussing on the present rather than any potential move to the pink team.

“We’ll see what the future holds I am really not thinking about that right now I am just going to enjoy the moment and I am sure it is going to sink in later. I look forward to an exciting race tomorrow as we are going to be in the mix which has been rare this year.”