Rosberg Reacts to Stroll Passing Out: 'Not Really Excuse' For Getting All Penalties

Tuesday, 10 October 2023 at 15:00

Updated at Tuesday, 10 October 2023 at 22:50

Former F1 driver and World Champion Nico Rosberg talked about Lance Stroll's performance during the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix.

During his post-race interview after the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix, Lance Stroll described the extreme conditions that he had to endure throughout the race. The Canadian driver said track limits are "kind of a joke" when you are passing out in the car.

"I mean the track limits, they painted the curbs, you can't see the track, you are so dizzy, it's dark, you're fading low blood pressure and just passing out in the car and they giving track limit penalties is kind of a joke."

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Nico Rosberg told Sky F1 he believes Stroll when he says it's crazy difficult. However, it does not seem like an excuse when you compare Stroll's performance to some of the top drivers [Max Verstappen, Oscar Piastri, or Lando Norris] who finished the race on the podium with zero penalties.

"I think it was a decent race, perhaps, for him but still an extreme way of stating it that he says the last 25 laps he’s almost passing out in those high-speed corners. I mean, I believe him that is just crazy, crazy difficult out there."

"But, nevertheless, all the other drivers managed to do without penalties – or many of them – especially the best ones out there today. So it’s not really an excuse, I think, to still have so many mistakes to get the penalties that he did."

On the other hand, Rosberg sees the point of view of many drivers, saying that the race was extremely difficult. Drivers lost three kilos (six pounds) during the 45-minute race, which Rosberg describes as "torture."

"Of course, it was an extreme exhaustion. It was extremely difficult. So I wonder, I mean, they would need to analyse it. Certainly, it was borderline. They lost like three kilos, so six pounds of body weight in those one hour and 45 minutes that they were racing."

"That’s extreme, it’s like 5% of your body weight, which really really is so tough and it’s such a torture. So that’s something they’re gonna have to look at."