Stroll overcame fears to seal P7 in ‘intense’ British GP
Lance Stroll secured a commendable P7 finish in last weekend’s British Grand Prix, but the Aston Martin charger admitted to experiencing moments of sheer terror in Silverstone’s mixed conditions.
For the fifth time this season, Stroll outqualified teammate Fernando Alonso to line up eighth on Sunday’s grid, two spots ahead of the Spaniard.
The Canadian also outperformed Alonso in the race, the pair crossing the checkered flag seventh and eighth, marking the fourth time this season that Aston Martin managed to score points with both of its cars.
However, Stroll’s real challenge arose in the race itself when rain lashed the circuit midway through the event and then subsided, creating a treacherous mix of wet and dry patches that tested the drivers’ skills and nerves.
"I was not confident, I was shitting my pants," a candid Stroll admitted after the race.
The high speeds of Silverstone combined with the unpredictable grip made every corner a potential disaster zone. A single mistake on a damp patch could send a driver careening into the barriers.
"When it starts raining at such a high-speed track like this, the mixed conditions are so tough because you've got to really keep your foot in it, believe and commit to the corners.
"But with a bit of rain on the visor, wet patches creeping in, it is just so easy to lose the car and hit the barrier.
©AstonMartin
"It was definitely one of the more intense races, it was a bit like Canada earlier in the year.
"I wanted a little bit more but still it was a good race and so much could have gone wrong in the mixed conditions.
"It was just so hard to keep the car on track in the first place, so to be honest, I'm happy to pick up the points."
Aston Martin is no longer battling among the top four this season, having lost ground to its rivals on the back of the unsuccessful upgrades introduced on its AMR24.
However, Alonso felt that progress was slowly taking hold. But a strategic gamble in the race didn’t pay off for the F1 veteran.
“It has been better, after Austria we regrouped a little bit and we understood a couple of directions that maybe were not right," he said.
"I'm happy to be back in the points, I felt more competitive and it was a gamble on some of the tyre changes.
"I waited too long to put on the inters and the track was dry so you would damage the inters in that first couple of laps, so I didn't want to do that in case of heavy rain to have a better tyre.
"It didn't rain so my bet was not working, but you need a little bit of luck in those calls."
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