Lance Stroll needs a change of luck after failing to score in half of the races so far this year, says his team mate.
Fernando Alonso has out-scored Stroll by 93 points to 27 over their six races together at Aston Martin so far this season. However the twice-champion says his team mate hasn’t had the rub of the green so far this year.
“I think Lance has been very, very unlucky the last two events,” said Alonso.
Stroll’s participation in the first race of the season was put in doubt when he injured his wrists in a pre-season cycling crash which forced him to miss testing. “I think we go back to Bahrain, driving with one hand he was very fast. Then Jeddah he had the exhaust problem when he was in front of the Ferraris in P5.”
Stroll was narrowly eliminated in Q1 in Miami, while Alonso progressed, when the team tried to make it through the first round without using a second set of soft tyres. “In Miami we were risking too much probably in Q1 and that compromised the race,” said Alonso.
In Monaco, where Alonso qualified on the front row, Stroll failed to reach the final 10. His first run in Q2 wasn’t quick enough, he lost time missing the weigh bridge then picked up debris on his final run.
“In Monaco the debris from Lando’s car, the McLaren, completely compromised the whole weekend,” said Alonso.
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In Miami Stroll climbed from 18th on the grid to finish 12th, then in Monaco he retired from the race due to crash damage.
Alonso said his team mate’s recent results “[made] the headlines very easy to be hard, but I think if you see the whole weekend even in Monaco in FP3 he was within one tenth and a half of the fastest.”
“He has provided the right feedback, info and strategy about everything,” Alonso added. “So I really hope for him that he has a little more luck because I don’t think that he’s missing any pace. It’s just opportunistic moments that were not in his side.”
Stroll is hoping to put his recent run of misfortune behind him this weekend.
“It’s luck, things happen in racing and we had some tough weekends,” he said. “We had a retirement in Jeddah and I think we were having a strong weekend last weekend and then some damage in Q2 kind of cost us an opportunity for good points on Sunday. And Monaco is all about Saturday, really.
“So I think it’s just how it goes. There’s good weekends and bad weekends. Like every other weekend I’m just coming into this one trying to get the most out of it.”
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