Stroll Cites 'Lot Of Bad Luck' As Reason For Point Gap To Alonso

Tuesday, 26 December 2023 at 12:00

Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll suggested a lot of bad luck was a great reason behind the point difference to his teammate Fernando Alonso.

Despite starting the season with arguably the second fastest car, Lance Stroll didn't manage to score a podium and finished the 2023 season in tenth place, 130 points behind Fernando Alonso.

Many fans and F1 experts started criticizing Stroll for insufficient performances, but the Canadian driver explained in a recent interview for motorsportweek a lot of bad luck was involved in his results.

“"Yeah, it’s been a season with a lot of bad luck, a lot of missed opportunity. I don’t like using the words bad luck, but I think missed opportunities."”

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In total, Stroll had to retire three times during the season, which is more than his Spanish two-time World Champion teammate. The 25-year-old continued:

“"But I guess it’s bad luck when I think about the failures and stuff. We had races like Saudi running P4, engine problems, Monaco quali, and hitting debris."”

“"Damage to the car in Q2 and starting from mid-pack in Monaco, you lose your weekend. I think back to places like Suzuka, having a good race, rear wing failure."”

In terms of qualifying head-to-head, the Canadian driver lost out to Alonso by 3:19. In terms of grad prix head-to-head, the score was 18:4.

While Stroll did lack some pace on Alonso, who found new motivation after scoring podium right in the first race of the season, he believes the gap would be smaller if he didn't have so much bad luck in 2023.

“"In Zandvoort we missed the pitstop when the rain came down, we stayed out on track; it was a wrong decision. We were in a good place to score big points there. But I think that’s part of the season."”