Lance Stroll reckons Aston Martin lost good points in some of the races which would have put them ahead of Alfa Romeo after upward trend since Barcelona update.
Aston Martin did have the start they had hoped for to its 2022 F1 campaign but adopting their ‘second’ design proved to be right as they made progress and moved themselves towards points scoring position especially in the races if not qualifying.
For most part, their qualifying pace hurt them a lot as they had to work its way through to the Top 10. The early points from Alfa Romeo allowed them to remain ahead and despite the late charge, Aston Martin fell short not by points but by best result of fifth.
Considering they were tied on points, it all the more played up as Stroll pointed out the last few grands prix where they lost points due to crashes and mistakes. But on overall side, they look in a better shape for 2023 where they hope to continue to push on.
“I think we really struggled at the beginning of the year,” said Stroll. “I think we were far off the pace at the beginning of the year, but the guys have done a great job improving the car. You know, we introduced a new package in… was it Barcelona? That was kind of the beginning of change.
“And then from there, I think we’ve developed the car a lot throughout the year. And like I said, since the summer break, I think we’ve been in a much more competitive position. We went from, like, constantly being… most of the time out of a position to score points on pure pace, and then since the summer break, we’ve often been in positions to score points.
“I think the guys have done a great job at improving the car. We’ve definitely… made big steps in the right direction. And it’s just about… keeping on going in that direction, really, in the future. I think it was all about having… clean races. I mean, when I look back at the last few races, I think we missed out on the opportunity of points, like in Austin, both cars were doing well… and then I had a crash and then Seb had a pit stop issue.
“So we lost a lot of points there. And, you know, I think it’s really just about being competitive. And then, if we’re fast and competitive, it’s just about capitalising and, you know, scoring points,” summed up Stroll.
Here’s how the F1 2022 teams were categorised in ranking: https://formularapida.net/f1-2022-teams-categorised-in-tier-system-for-their-performances/
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