Aston Martin F1 driver Lance Stroll has faith that his team can recover from their wretched start to the 2022 campaign, but is realistic in his expectations.
Stroll, Sebastian Vettel and Nico Hulkenberg have all appeared for the Silverstone side this year, and have been unable to put any points on the board in an incredibly poor start to the campaign.
The highly uncomfortable looking handling of the car was compounded by an amalgamation of errors and almost comical incidents for Stroll and Vettel in Melbourne, as they both tried to get the erratic machine under control.
Having crashed out of the grand prix in Australia, the four-time champion remarked that there are “too many things” going wrong with the AMR22, and the Canadian has ruled out any chance of standing on the top step this year – a damming indictment of his father Lawrence’s five-year championship plan.
“Will we be fighting for wins this season? No. Will we be fighting for podiums this season? Probably not,” he said in a media session ahead of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
However, the three-time podium finisher is still full of belief that the engineers can find a way to climb back up to points contention.
“Will hopefully we get to a position where we can fight for points and stuff? I really hope so and I believe that’s possible if we do the right things, and if we push each other and come up with some ideas on how to resolve some of our limitations. But time will tell.
“I’m confident and positive that as a team we can improve and push this car further.
“But in F1, as you develop everyone else develops, so it’s a development race to the end of the year.”
Despite their struggles, the 23-year-old divulges his excitement at the enhanced progress of the new factory in Silverstone, though it is unknown whether it will replace or be an auxiliary to the current base.
It might well then end up being crucial if the team decide to start manufacturing their own engines in 2026 at the end of the current engine freeze.
“We are really focused and excited on the future. It’s amazing what’s going on at Silverstone with the factory, it’s going up so quickly,” he revealed.
“Every week I go, it’s shocking to see how much progress they are making and how quickly that building is coming up.
“And all the people joining the already very talented people on board. I think it’s just an extremely exciting project that’s in the process of growing.”
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Aston Martin are 10th and last in the Constructors’ Standings, and the former Williams driver is very aware that patience will be a requisite on their way back up the order.
“Nothing happens overnight. It’s really a process now of just developing, getting a better understanding of what we can do better this season but really looking forward to the next few years and where this team is heading,” he added.
“It’s really about the future for us. It’s really exciting and I’m just looking at that.”
If Aston Martin are to obtain their first points of the season in Imola, the anticipated wet weather throughout the weekend might just help them achieve that.