The Monaco Grand Prix was truly a tale of two halves for Aston Martin, with Fernando Alonso fighting for pole and the victory, while his teammate Lance Stroll failed to even finish.
While Stroll could be confident his position at Aston Martin is secure as the son of team owner Lawrence Stroll, questions have emerged over how long the driver can be protected by his father amid a series of poor performances.
While Alonso has shown the car is capable of securing podiums, racking up four P3 and one P2 finish in six races, Stroll’s best finish came in Australia when he secured P4 amid a chaotic end to the race.
In the Drivers’ Standings, the difference is clear between the two, as Alonso sits in P3 with 93 points, while Stroll is down in P8 with just 27 points.
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“It’s time for Lawrence Stroll to cut the cord with Lance,” Auto Hebdo’s Julien Billionette stated.
“His father says he doesn’t intend to settle for second best in Formula 1, so it’s too bad that he’s always seeing that his team can only rely on one car.”
“The full potential of Lance Stroll has already been revealed. The Canadian will never become world champion,” Iltalehti’s Janne Palomaki added.
“What is most worrying is that Lance’s pace seems to be fading at the rate that Aston Martin’s results are improving.”
The stark contrast between Alonso and Stroll on track has allowed Red Bull to enjoy runaway success in the title race this season and put Aston Martin at risk of losing their P2 position in the Constructors’ Standings.
Stoll, however, has defended himself ahead of the Barcelona Grand Prix, believing that his performances are due to bad luck, rather than a lack of skill.
“There’s good weekends and bad weekends,” Stroll told reporters.
“So, yeah, see how [Barcelona] goes.”
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While critics have pounced on Stroll’s failings as a reason for him to be ditched from the team, Alonso has been incredibly supportive of his teammate, agreeing that he has just been “unlucky this season.”
“In Bahrain he drove one-handed and was damn fast,” Alonso said, referring to Stroll’s pre-season biking injury.
“In Jeddah he was ahead of the Ferraris when the exhaust broke. In Miami they gambled too much in Q1 where they wanted to save a set of tyres. In Monte Carlo he damaged his car on debris from a McLaren in qualifying.