Aston Martin enjoyed a solid Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Sunday, with Fernando Alonso having once again been the team’s leading driver.
The double World Champion’s consecutive podium streak did unfortunately come to an end, though, with the 41-year-old having only managed fourth.
Considering Alonso started the race in sixth, fourth was by no means a bad result, especially as it kept him third in the Drivers’ Championship.
Alonso did have strong pace but was unable to challenge Charles Leclerc for third, with tyre preservation having been vital throughout the Grand Prix.
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On the other side of the Silverstone-based garage, Lance Stroll also made up places during the race, with the Canadian having finished seventh, two places higher than he started.
Stroll could’ve perhaps finished sixth had it not been for a costly error mid-race at Turn 16, where the Canadian was overtaken by Lewis Hamilton after running wide at the corner.
Due to having run wide, Hamilton was able to close right up on the Aston Martin driver, as they approached the 2.2km main straight.
Stroll was perhaps lucky to finish the race altogether, with the Canadian having clipped the wall at Turn 5.
Thankfully, the impact didn’t damage his AMR23, something which was certainly lucky given that Nyck de Vries retired from the race after having a similar incident at the same corner.
Stroll did come under late pressure from George Russell but was able to fend off the Mercedes driver, who actually pitted in the closing laps to push for the fastest lap.
Overall, fourth and seventh marks a solid result for Aston Martin.
Stroll interestingly tried to work with Alonso in the opening laps of the race when the pair were running in sixth and seventh, whilst Alonso in sixth was being held up by Hamilton who was in fifth.
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Stroll informed the team that he wouldn’t “attack” his team-mate despite having DRS, to which Alonso replied by insisting that the Canadian could try and overtake him.
“Tell Fernando I will not attack. We are playing the same game,” Stroll informed his team over the radio on Lap 5.
“He can have a go,” Alonso interestingly replied, after the team passed on Stroll’s message.