Stroll: The Long Descent into Hell
Motors Inside offers you a review of the difficult race faced by Lance Stroll at the Turkish Grand Prix. Starting from pole position, he ultimately finished ninth.
The day couldn’t have started better for Lance Stroll, who qualified in pole position this Saturday; the Canadian was starting from the front spot on the grid this Sunday in Turkey.
A solid start to the race with wet tires
Despite starting on the wet side of the track, the Racing Point driver leads at the first corner. He even builds a gap of more than 10 seconds over his teammate Sergio Perez in second place.
With a comfortable lead, Stroll, a solid leader, decides to pit.
First pit stop, the beginning of the end
After 9 laps, he returns to the pits and switches to intermediate tires. His troubles begin! His tires overheat and wear out quickly. Graining appears on his tires. His team hesitated to bring him in since he stayed on track for 27 laps.
His teammate getting dangerously close, the strategists at Racing Point decided to bring him into the pits a second time to put on intermediates again. With the track too wet for slick tires, the team thought it was a good move. In contrast, Perez and Hamilton stuck to a one-stop strategy.
The second stop, the descent into hell
Upon exiting the pits on the 36th lap with a new set of intermediates, the downward spiral began for Stroll. Graining reappeared on his tires more significantly as the track dried. Powerless against his competitors, he watched Sebastian Vettel, Charles Leclerc, Carlos Sainz, Max Verstappen, Alexander Albon, and then Lando Norris overtake him without being able to fight back. This slow agony ended in ninth place for a driver who was in contention for victory at the start of the Grand Prix.
The Canadian, who claimed his first pole position this Saturday in qualifying, emerged disappointed from his car. He shared his feelings in an interview:
« I couldn’t attack to gain positions. In hindsight, maybe staying on track [instead of making the second stop] would have allowed the tires to clean up, but it’s easy to say now. Getting the pole yesterday was a great achievement, but the points are scored on Sunday. It was fun to lead so many laps, but we didn’t lead enough! Although I’m frustrated today, Checo [his teammate Sergio Perez] scored valuable points and we will focus on the last races. »
