Lance Stroll and his chief have sought to minimise the recent Qatar altercation.
With ongoing speculation surrounding his position within his father’s Aston Martin squad, and after not progressing beyond Q1 on Friday for the fourth consecutive time, the 24-year-old was visibly upset, leading to a violent shove against his trainer, Henry Howe.
“It’s not so easy to condemn someone,” team head Mike Krack mentioned on Sunday, having previously hesitated to discuss the incident.
“I usually try not to talk to drivers right after qualifying because I know how charged with adrenaline they can be,” he said, also referencing Stroll’s sharp 7-word post-session interview, in which one of the words was an expletive.
“But I think sport thrives on such emotions and you shouldn’t condemn it too much when you’re in a situation like that. So there is no problem in the team. We talked about it. It’s all ok.”
Aside from the push, Stroll was also observed discarding his pricey steering wheel across the garage. Was there an apology for that?
“He did,” Krack confirmed. “No problem.”
However, he did acknowledge the subpar performance of the 2023 vehicle as a real concern.
“We have more improvements planned in the next few races coming up and I hope to be able to turn it around,” Krack informed DAZN.
“We have dropped a bit in the last few races, which is hard for the whole team, so it is important that we push to add something to the car and be more competitive.”
Regarding the tense moment with osteopath and performance mentor Henry Howe, Lance personally shared: “Everything is fine with us.
“He’s close to me. We go through frustration together, we travel together. He’s my bro. We have a good relationship. Everything is smooth for us.”
Yet, the digital response to Stroll’s blow-up has been largely negative, with several online voices suggesting that his billionaire father Lawrence should let Lance go.
“I don’t watch social media on a weekend. I sit in the car and drive it,” Lance affirmed.
He attributed the root of his visible annoyance to the collective underperformance of him and his team.
“It is obvious that we have reached a dead end with the car and the situation is not getting better. And the whole team is disappointed,” said Stroll.
“We want to achieve more, we want to become better, but now we just have to fight. I’m also struggling with the car to find a balance. I can’t get it to be as good as it used to be, which is very frustrating.”
However, when interacting with the press, Stroll’s vexation started to resurface, leading him to query: “Do you have any other questions?”
Upon being questioned about addressing his temperament, he responded with resolve:
“I hate it when I have a bad day. I will not change,” the Canadian retorted.
