Lance Stroll believes a combination of factors attributed to the huge crash he suffered during qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix.
The Canadian driver was vying to escape the Q1 drop zone when he got out of shape on the outside kerb at the final corner and span into the barrier, with his damaged car coming to rest on the start-finish straight.
Having entered the final sector three-tenths down on the time he needed to progress to Q2, Stroll admits he was desperately trying to make up time when he pitched into a spin.
However, he also concedes there were other underlying explanations for the incident that curtailed his qualifying, including being stopped at the weighbridge and getting caught in traffic ahead of his final run.
“I’m okay. I’m frustrated as we have a big job – in the garage and on the race track – ahead of us,” Stroll rued.
“I was struggling for grip throughout the qualifying session. We had a bad out-lap with traffic ahead of my final push and we got stopped for the weighbridge. I started a couple of seconds behind Pierre [Gasly], so it didn’t play out the way we’d planned.
“When I saw my lap wasn’t improving, I pushed really hard in the last corner to try and make up that extra time, and that’s when it went wrong. Let’s see what we can salvage tomorrow in the race.”
Fernando Alonso (ESP) Aston Martin F1 Team AMR23. 16.09.2023. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 16, Singapore Grand Prix, Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore, Qualifying Day.
The sole remaining Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was able to advance to the pole position shootout upon the session’s resumption, eventually wounding up seventh.
Amid Stroll’s troubles with traffic in Q1, Alonso sympathises with the FIA’s attempts to police the problem, believing one-lap qualifying is the only solution.
When asked if he was content with the basis of the implementation of a minimum timed lap for out-laps on Saturday at the Marina Bay Circuit, the Spaniard said: “It is difficult to handle I think. Whatever they do we will find a way to sail that kind of rule.
“They have a very difficult job in terms of managing traffic on street circuits and things like that. I have said many times that there is only on way to find a solution which is single lap qualifying. All the other solutions we can test but will never work because we will find a way.
“I think this qualifying format is obsolete. It has been the same for 20-25 years but the cars are not the same. We have hybrid engines, we have to charge, we have to cool the tyres, so the only way to go forward is one lap.”
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