Lance Stroll hits out at Williams' 2018 car
- Published on 26 Mar 2018 08:54
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- By: Rob Veenstra
Lance Stroll has fired some rare criticism at his F1 employer. Williams has had a tough start to the 2018 season, amid criticism for not signing Robert Kubica as race driver and struggling for pace with its new car.
Now after the season opener in Melbourne, Canadian driver Stroll let his frustration tell. "You cannot perform with this car, it's as simple as that," he told Le Journal de Montreal newspaper. "The team made a mistake during practice on Friday and I had to stop the car. We lost precious time. And on Sunday, nothing worked well. Quite the contrary."
Stroll, 19, said one major issue in the race related to engine modes with his Mercedes power unit. "We could not find the right way to accelerate when we needed it. That's why I lost a position on the first lap and I could not fight with the Sauber later on. We did not have the power required when we needed it," he said. (GMM)
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Replies (17)
Login to replymbmwe36
Posts: 533
Yeah, sure, blame the car...
Major Tom
Posts: 152
While I am no fan of Stroll I think the Williams is fighting with Sauber for the 'worst car on the grid' award (although STR may also be a contender thanks to Honda).
mbmwe36
Posts: 533
Well guess what, that falls back on him, as the senior driver of the team. The fact is he is in well over his head, and this year he won't have Massa to cover for him.
And even if the car is horrible, going out and blaming everybody but yourself is not how you motivate the team to work harder (for you)
krommenaas
Posts: 155
He made Q2 so Massa would probably have scored them some points.
renaultFanF1
Posts: 80
Typically rich daddy's boy, blame it on the car or whatever. He got owned by a more talented driver in a car that is possibly worse or on the same level at best.
xoya
Posts: 583
Blamed a Williams chassis and an Mercedes engine in a single breath. Nice one kiddo! That's how you make friends.
Kean
Posts: 692
Bear with me here…. Qualistats:
Bottas vs. Hamilton (2017): 7 to 13
Bottas vs. Massa (2016): 17 to 4
Massa vs. Stroll (2017): 17 to 2
In other words I rate Stroll as being on a pretty low wrung on the speed-ladder, since Stroll was owned by Massa, who in turn was owned by Bottas, who in turn lost to Hamilton (a.k.a. one of the fastest qualifiers in the history of F1).
That being said, it seems to me that the Williams car is either fundamentally flawed or they are a long way off to unlocking its potential. From reading what pundits have said about its design, it seems that they’ve taken clever design ideas from Mercedes and Ferrari and tried to puzzle them together, perhaps those different clever puzzle pieces don’t fit together as well as they thought.
It is going to be difficult for Williams to get a straight answer regarding the design of their car since they have two inexperienced drivers trying to give feed back. How easy will it be for them to tell if their problems are driver related or car related? (I know it’s not that black or white, but you get the idea.) Wish they could put someone like Jenson Button in the car and get things sorted.
ajpennypacker
Posts: 2,475
Agreed. Williams has a dog of a car this year, yes. But Williams has had a bad car before and they have always managed to get one scoring points regularly. I am still waiting to be proven wrong, but this might be the worst pairing ever in Williams history. Say what you will about Pastor Maldonado and Bruno Senna... He at least properly earned a win and a pole position.
Kean
Posts: 692
I always thought that Maldonado had the speed, what he lacked was common sense when it came to race craft. But remember Nakajima, who partnered Rosberg back when Williams had Toyota engines, that guy.... well I felt sorry for him, they might as well have put me in the car (ok that was a stretch).
f1dave
Posts: 782
Maybe he can get daddy to buy him a ride somewhere else.
mcbhargav
Posts: 1,332
more like 'criticism at his employee'
Vega23
Posts: 17
Criticism from Stroll doesnt have much value as he doesn't have much experience, Kubica might add something more substantial to the picture
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Kubica was a good driver, but his knowledge is outdated. These cars are vastly different to what he drove.
mbmwe36
Posts: 533
Not really. The principals remain the same in terms of setup, so while it is different, it shouldn't take him too long to get up to speed.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
While it looks like a dog, I dont think Stroll really gave me a decent impression. Leclerc did a reasonably good job with that Sauber, and does he complain, pray tell? Less talking and more walking! God, whats with the F1 people of today! Do I have to command all of you, the same way that I secretely command Sweden to apply ketchup on their pasta?
Barron
Posts: 625
Haha good one ?
mcbhargav
Posts: 1,332
Lance, the troll.