Mike Krack highlights Lance Stroll’s progress in 2023, despite a “challenging” context
Lance Stroll was widely beaten by his teammate in the previous season. Despite performances sometimes well below Alonso's, his boss, Mike Krack, states that the Canadian was not at 100% of his abilities at the beginning of the season and that he has improved throughout the races.
The criticisms about Lance Stroll’s level don’t date back to the 2023 season. The Canadian driver arrived in F1 largely thanks to the support of his billionaire father, who is now the owner of the Aston Martin brand and team.
The ambition of the British team is to win the title starting from 2026. That’s why the recruitment of Fernando Alonso was supposed to help the team improve. While the team was counting on an increase in the level of the Canadian, he was widely beaten by his teammate.
The double world champion collected all eight podiums for his team and finished fourth in the championship with 206 points. Stroll, on the other hand, only scored 74 points and his best result was a fourth place at the Australian Grand Prix.
The criticisms of the Canadian driver have grown throughout the season due to his performances. He crashed violently into the wall on the straightaway at the finish line in Singapore and had a dispute with his physiognomist in Qatar, after finishing 16th in qualifying.
Lance has learned a lot from Fernando.
But for Mike Krack, executive director of Aston Martin, Stroll has many mitigating circumstances to explain his gap with Alonso. He also explains that all the pressure from the world of F1 weighed heavily on number 18.
“They are young athletes, it weighs on them. They want to perform, and if the performance doesn’t meet your expectations, it’s always difficult for everyone,” explains Mike Krack.
I am really happy that we managed to rectify the situation. There has been a lot of dialogue over these months and weeks and what I truly admire is that as a team, and also from Lance’s side, we have always remained true to our principles, working hard, working together, and believing in each other, emphasizes the executive director of Aston Martin.
« We must not forget that at the beginning of the season, when we had a very strong car compared to the competition, he was hindered by injuries. And when the car was a bit less good, he was again in better shape. Just like the team, Lance has learned a lot from Fernando. And I also think that to handle difficult situations, you always look at what your teammate does and how he behaves, », explains the Luxembourger in detail.
We all learned a lot there, without trying to invent things, but by really sticking to our data, sticking to the analysis and moving forward. It makes me very proud of the team. And coming out as he did with the team, I think it made us much stronger for the future, concludes Mike Krack.
