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Aston Martin F1 racer Lance Stroll has consistently been one of the most underperforming drivers on the Formula 1 grid in the past few seasons. The former F1 team boss Guenther Steiner took a dig at the young Canadian driver during the latest episode of The Red Flags Podcast.
Beginning his racing career with karting in 2008, Stroll showed his racecraft by winning the Federation de Sport Automobile du Quebec rookie of the year award. A year later, he also took the driver of the year award. Stroll's performance in his first two years as a professional racer saw him grab a seat in the Ferrari Driver Academy in 2010.
After winning the Formula 3 title, the Canadian debuted in Formula 1 in 2017 with Williams. Despite much potential, he has not been able to replicate the success he enjoyed in the junior Formula divisions.
During a recent episode of The Red Flags Podcast, the ex-Team Principal of Haas Guenther Steiner shared his opinion on the 25-year-old Aston Martin driver.
“Lance passes completely under the radar. It’s weird. You never speak good or bad about him, he’s just non-existent,” Steiner commented (55:36 onwards).
"He’s one of these guys who is rarely spoken about when he’s in the points. He's less spoken about when he’s not in the points. He’s just there. If you wouldn’t have brought him up, I wouldn’t have even known that he raced last weekend. I need to go and check the stats because he’s just non-visible," he added (56:48 onwards).
Here's a look at the entire podcast from YouTube:
Apart from the podcast, Steiner's statement was shared on X by PlanetF1.com. Here's a look at the post, captioned:
"The curious case of Lance Stroll..."
"My race was pretty much over on the first lap" - Lance Stroll on difficult race in Azerbaijan after first lap contact with Yuki Tsunoda
Starting the race at P13, Lance Stroll was looking at grabbing a few points during the Azerbaijan GP last month. However, a first-lap contact with VCARB's Yuki Tsunoda eventually resulted in the #18 racer DNFing on lap 45, six laps before the chequered flag.
The Canadian expressed his disappointment during the post-race media interaction.
“My race was pretty much over on the first lap when Tsunoda and I made contact. I dived down the inside – I'm not sure if he saw me or not – but he closed the door and I had to pit with a puncture."
“With nine laps to go, I started feeling an issue with the brake pedal and it was getting worse with each lap. This isn't a circuit to take any risks at, and we were well out of the points positions, so it made sense to retire the car," he added.
As of now, Lance Stroll is placed 11th on the 2024 drivers' standings. He is 38 points behind his teammate and 2x F1 world champion Fernando Alonso.
