Alonso Defends 'Extremely Unlucky' Stroll After Series Of Unsuccessful Weekends

Friday, 20 October 2023 at 12:30

Updated at Wednesday, 25 October 2023 at 21:37

Aston Martin F1 driver Fernando Alonso commented on the situation with his teammate Lance Stroll in a recent interview ahead of the 2023 United States Grand Prix.

Lance Stroll has a series of tough weekends behind him, as he failed to score a point in the last five weekends. The Canadian driver has struggled to find his form since the Dutch Grand Prix.

The last racing weekend at Lusail International Circuit in Qatar has been particularly challenging for Stroll as he first had an angry outburst at his personal trainer after an unsuccessful qualifying and then failed to achieve points after receiving track limit penalties during the race.

His older, more experienced teammate Fernando Alonso, on the other hand, has finished second in the Dutch Grand Prix and achieved points in every single race of the season besides the Singapore Grand Prix. The Spaniard told the media ahead of the 2023 United States Grand Prix:

"We are all helping him and [I am] trying to do my best where if I find something in the car and feel more comfortable [I can share]."

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The 42-year-old believes in the raw pace of his Canadian teammate; however, he thinks Stroll has been 'extremely unlucky' in recent few races.

"We are working closely together to find the best result for the team and to score points with both cars. I think he’s been extremely unlucky in some situations. I don’t think the speed and pace is that far away when things are normal."

Alonso compared it to football, explaining that Stroll is on a negative streak right now and needs a clean weekend to regain his confidence.

"All this is just hitting his confidence, it’s like in football when you win matches everything goes perfect and when you lose you get stressed. We need a clean weekend and hopefully this one is just the starting point."

The 24-year-old will have a chance to regain his confidence on multiple occasions during this week's sprint weekend at the Circuit of the Americas starting from qualifying on Friday.