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Lance Stroll has now admitted that he was already losing power on the laps leading up to his Lap 16 retirement.
Stroll, who managed to get into P4 in the opening stage of the Grand Prix, was losing power on every lap for about seven laps beforehand. Image Credit: Aston MartinThe Saudi Arabian Grand Prix was intense for Aston Martin. Not only did they have the Alonso P3 debacle but on the other side of the garage they had a retirement. The team are still investigating the issue, however, Lance Stroll has hinted as to what he thinks caused him to retire.
Despite having an excellent start, things took a turn for the worse in Jeddah. On Lap 16, Stroll was told by his team to pull over and retire. When Stroll originally pulled over and got out of the car, the Aston Martin appeared to only be having a brake issue. There were marshalls trying to cool down the brakes. However, Stroll admitted in his post-race interview that he thinks it was due to engine issues.
“I was losing power every lap for 6,7 laps. [I lost] a second and a half every a lap. It was just game over”
When asked about the brakes, Stroll gestured behind him and said “there was some smoke from the engine”.
Stroll was certainly disappointed with the outcome of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
He said “It was disappointing to retire from the Grand Prix after such a promising weekend. I had a great start and really enjoyed overtaking Carlos around the outside of Turn 13”.
Stroll also admitted he was disappointed for teammate Alonso too. At the time it looked as if Alonso was having a penalty which would stick. The Canadian said, “it’s a real shame”.
Team Principal, Mike Krack’s Thoughts
Team Principal Mike Krack made his feelings clear afterwards.”It is a real shame that Lance was forced to retire early with an energy recovery issue”.
Despite falling victim to Ferrari’s pit-stop gamesman ship where they tricked Stroll into coming in early, Lance still looked as if he was on track to score well.
Mike Krack also thought this saying “he had strong pace. [He] surely have scored big points tonight as well”.
Luckily for Aston Martin, they now know their car did well in Saudi Arabia. Despite the fact that Lance Stroll lost power at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, the team know the car is suited to the track. This bodes well for upcoming Australia where the team state they will “pick up the fight”.
Feature Image Credit: “Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images”
