vro0m’s rewatch - 78/298
2011 Canadian GP
Oh no. Oh no oh no oh no. The video for this race is FIVE AND A HALF HOURS LONG. Oh god no. Please be a mistake. (spoiler : it wasn’t.)
So it's round 7. Oh it's wet. It's raining. That's not good. Oh no wait. It's actually round 8 but the Bahrain gp canceled itself over the civil unrest. Anyway Seb has 143 points and is leading the WDC obvi. Second behind him is Lewis with 85 points only. So. Yeah. He's far ahead.
So in Monaco Sergio Perez had a big crash if you remember and he was cleared to run in Canada two weeks later but decided not to take part himself which surprised everyone. But he felt he wasn't ready so he's not doing it which is rational imo. De la Rosa spun and crashed in FP3 but he was ready for quali anyway thanks to the hard work of his team.
Quali report now : De la Rosa brushed the wall and damaged his car AGAIN. The track is supposed to be in McLaren's favour. Lewis is only 5th though but he's clearly excited. He says he thinks he's never driven a car so hard in his life, they're on the edge and he even touched the wall at some point. Jenson is 7th. Nico is 6th, in between them. Webber’s KERS failed and he's 4th. Massa and Alonso did almost the same time but Alonso was ahead. Of course, no surprise, Seb is on pole.
McLaren said they were better equipped for the race than the quali so there's that but also they weren't expecting rain. I'm unsure how this is gonna go for them.
Seb took Lee Mackenzie for a ride in an infiniti on the track lol. Oh god she asked him who was a contender for the title and he named basically everyone BUT Webber eeeesh. David Coulthard says he thinks he has Webber under control. Jordan thinks he said "we" and was thinking outside Redbull.
The Mercedes pit wall thinks it won't be raining for the start but the track is wet enough for a SC start. We'll see.
Oh god. There's been a horrific accident in Le Mans that weekend. McNish. Thankfully everyone is okay but the images are terrifying.
The cars are getting to the grid and taking the opportunity to see what to do with the tyres. Seb says it's quite slippery, quite wet and as it is the intermediates are a no no. Webber says it's okay. Brawn confirms it’s no intermediates. Jenson says it's very slippery too.
And yeah. It's a safety car start.
So it means everybody has to be on extreme wets. Of course 3 laps in Lewis is complaining about them not going like he did in 2010 (was it 2010?) oh here we go. Lap 4 : safety car in this lap. They saved fuel on four laps so they might be able to run higher engine modes later but they couldn't charge their KERS systems and apparently if the batteries go cold it's over and you can't use them for the rest of the race so we'll see if the KERS work or not.
Seb accelerated early, way before the white line so Alonso is right along him but there's no overtaking. He's able to attack him right away at the final corner though. OH NO. Webber and Lewis touched. Webber spun. Lewis is able to avoid him but he's lost some places. Webber spins around and joins back. Lewis is in 7th now. Something very confusing happened between the two Mercedes and the two McLarens but now Lewis is in 6th. The visibility is null.
Ahhh I'm so nervous Lewis is trying to overtake Schumacher please don't push too much please...
Ayyy Schumacher pushed him wide. Or Lewis went wide. Difficult to say when they all have that little grip. Vettel just missed the chicane and had a run on the grass.
Webber and Lewis are under investigation for that incident.
NOOOOO. NO. FUCK NO. NO. FUCK. NO.
THE MCLARENS TOUCHED.
Lewis suspension is dead. Can he even make it to the pits. Ohhh I'm so mad I saw it coming. 2011 Lewis is still so fucking reckless. Yeah it's over. He tried to get to the pits but he parked the car. Oh I'm so pissed.
Anyway it's a safety car and Jenson gets new tyres, inters.
It's difficult to say whose fault it is. Lewis was way faster and tried to squeeze past but Jenson didn't change his line. No further action for the Webber-Lewis incident, well obvi Lewis is out anyway. Lewis is hanging out watching them haul his car away. He took off his helmet.
Safety car in on lap 12.
Button is very fast on his inters. Webber and him are moving up the field.
Lap 20 there's a safety car again but we don't know why. Maybe because it's raining again? Seb gets a free pitstop because he wasn't picked up by the SC yet. Webber also pits. They're getting full wets again, it IS raining for sure, you can see in the pitlane. There are 50 laps to go, this is definitely gonna be looooong. Seb radioes that the track is undriveable from whatever turn to whatever turn. Cut to a replay of Alguersuari cutting the chicane and going straight through the grass. This is gonna get redflagged huh? Seb is saying they can't race like this. I'm just waiting for the red. We see a message on a monitor expecting 20 minutes of rain of that intensity until it decreases to intensity 1 rain. Surely they're not gonna spend 20 minutes going around behind the safety car. Button also says they can't see anything at all, he's told the weather forecast I just described. Woooow it's raining hard. That's insane. They have to stop. What are they ah couldn't even finish typing that : the red flags are out.
To the grid then! They're supposed to stand in a single file but they don't because they don't know what they're supposed to do as always when there's red flags in these years. Some do, some get in the grid boxes. Now they're sitting in the rain (with poor mechanics holding umbrellas over their heads) while Lewis I imagine is taking a warm shower or something. Time to switch to x2 speed cause I'm simply not gonna watch 5 hours of broadcast.
Ah we get to hear from Lewis. He says it was tricky conditions and he was doing the best he could to keep the car on track (mmmh you were racing hard anybody that came in your way lol) he had pretty good pace but Jenson made a mistake in the last corner and so he came up to him and he was on the outside and he hasn't see the footage but it seemed to him he was halfway up to him and Jenson went across "whether he saw me or not" and then he was in the wall. He says it was only the tyre that was busted (untrue, the suspension had clearly failed) and it's the team who told him to retire while he was trying to join back the garage. He says he thought the suspension was gone because that's what they said but it turned out it wasn't (mmmmh I think I saw it come undone though?). Ah couldn't hear the end of the interview because the recording fucked up.
We're now just watching the scenery with no commentating at all. Great. It's still raining hard, very hard. They are sweeping the track and they even have a pump but the place is flooded. This is gonna take a while.
Rihanna is on track described as slightly underdressed (like I understand they mean for the weather but Rihanna is never underdressed) and now they're of course making jokes about her umbrella ella ella. Seeing the public under the rain and the marshals on the track while the teams are joking around in the warmth of the restaurants and shit is kinda heartbreaking tbh. Such a representation of social classes. Anyway.
Martin confirms that Lewis' car HAD indeed more damage than just the tyre and the fact that even I clocked that tells you everything you need to know about how obvious that was. Lewis can still react in bad faith at that time, then.
Oh someone just said they expect that intensity of rain for the next 25 minutes still omg. It's been about half an hour already I think? No actually it's almost been an hour! Damn.
Ah adorable. The Renault mechanics are drinking coffee together in the rain and what looks like small vending machine snacks. They're smiling and laughing from seeing themselves on TV. It's so cute.
Over one hour in, Martin says it seems to look better to him but we see a marshal sweeping centimetres of water on the track.
We've seen Rihanna now and they have nothing to say so they're now talking about how Martin loves her music and is terrible at karaoke.
Ah Rihanna was leaving the place she was drinking at and of course where she headed? Lewis. Drake is there too, shaking hands with him. Rihanna straight up hugs him. He's explaining why he's out of the race to her showing her the damage on his car 😭 why did I think she was way taller than that?
Ah! The rain has stopped! Or almost stopped. Engines are starting up! We're waiting for the 10mn notice. It's been 1h35. They're using a very expensive Mercedes to spray the puddles away now lol.
They're interviewing George Lucas which is hilarious because he has nothing to say about F1. He says movies about sports don't work because people would rather watch the real thing. Well lol. Talk to Netflix about that. Lol Jake shows how the fans are still there but the seats are almost empty by now.
.... Still waiting......
FINALLY we have a time! It's gonna restart! It's been 2h now.
Alright, safety car start then. Here we go!
Massa says the visibility is ok.
Alright after a dozen laps under safety car, it's about to come in. Annnnd here we go! Seb leads in front of Kobayashi and Massa. Plenty of pitting for inters. So many of them i can't keep track. And Alonso is beached. Safety car is back out. Jenson has a puncture, did they touch? Seb pits again under safety car. Lucky. Yeah they made contact.
Nearing the end of the race, Seb pits again. Massa must have hit a wall because he has loads of damage and needs a new front wing.
Oyyy Heidfeld goes off as we watch the on-board. Thankfully he ends up in a run off area so no safety car and he's okay. There's a lot of debris on the track though? Yeah safety car out again. Seb is still in the lead followed by Schumacher and Webber. Unlucky for Seb because he had 10 seconds on them. Oh god the marshals are trying to pick up the debris just after a corner in no visibility in the midst of the cars passing by it’s scary.
10 laps to go the race is ON again. Right away Seb pulls away. DRS is enabled and Webber overtakes Schumacher easily but he can't slow enough and has to cut a chicane and he's supposed to give back the place, he does, but Jenson is just behind. He manages to not let him pass too. It’s tense! Webber attacks again but Schumacher defends. Jenson is still right behind. And Webber misses the corner again and Jenson almost collides with him as he rejoins ! Jenson overtakes him! 5 laps to go! Jenson is right on Schumacher’s tail! JENSON OVERTAKES HIM! He didn't even use the DRS this whole time there might very well be a dysfunction. He's pulling away!!! Seb is not far away and slower than Jenson! Webber is still fighting Schumacher for third place! This is so exciting! Only 3 laps left but the time is also running out! Webber overtook Schumacher! Jenson has fastest lap! 3 minutes to go for 3 laps ! Oh god oh god oh god they just about have the time to finish the laps. Di Resta is out of the race. DRS for Jenson! Last lap! 0.9 gap. Ayayay. SEB HAS GONE WIDE! HE ALMOST LOST IT. JENSON IS THROUGH!
IT'S THE END OF THE RACE!
JENSON WINS! Seb is second and Webber is third right in front of Schumacher. Also Massa just overtook Kobayashi ON THE FINISH LINE for 6th. What a finish! And that's with doing double the number of pit stops than Seb! Unexpected, unbelievable!
Awww look at Lewis applauding Jenson! He looks like a proud brother. Love it.
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Hello people it's me. After struggling how to do this, here's finally how I am uploading my post about Lance's F1 career.
I decided to hit you guys with the qualy comparisons of him and his teammates first and foremost. It's just data where I highlight the Qualifyings he did better in but I thought it would be nice to see how far of he actually was.
Before going into my very long rant (about 8000 words) that I tried to keep as objective as possible I do want to note that of course there will be personal opinions and comments throughout as I am also just human and a fan as well. And with that note, let's dive in
Lance Stroll's journey to F1 and the question of why he is
probably one of the most underrated drivers on the current grid
Lance career began in 2008 when he first started carting. During 2008 and 2009 he won multiple
championships in the Canadian junior category. 2010 saw him winning the Rotax Mini Max of the
Florida winter Tour. In that same year he was signed on by the Ferrari driver academy. Considering
he was only 11 at the time and had basically only just started carting, that was a huge deal. Yes not
every signed driver by Ferrari makes it blah blah but they made it very clear that they saw potential
in him and wanted him to be racing in Europe for them. So, 2011 saw Lance first time competing in
European championships. In one of those he was 9th for example. The just mentioned WSK-Euro
Series in KF3 saw some familiar drivers such as the winner, Max Verstappen. Some other names
that might sound family for example P2 would be Esteban Ocon or George Russell in P7.
2012 and
2013 saw him once again in many carting championships before he started Formula racing in 2014.
He competed in the Florida Winter series where he got a pole and two podiums once again up
against Max and drivers such as Tatiana Calderón or Antonio Fuoco. But most importantly from
that year, he won the Italian F4 championship by nearly a hundred points.
2015 saw him competing in the European F3 championship where he finished 5th after the following
drivers (all names many of you will be family with): Jake Dennis, Charles Leclerc, Felix
Rosenquvist and Antonio Giovinazzi. That same year also saw him finishing 8th in the Macau GP
behind once again driver such as Charles Leclerc and Felix Rosenquivst. He also in that year won
the Toyota racing series by over a hundred points. This year he also left the Ferrari driver program
and joined the Williams academy. He became their development driver for 2016.
In 2016 he once again competed in the F3 to this time win it by a nearly 200 point advantage. P2
saw Maximilian Günther and P3 was none other than George Russell. He also raced the Daytona 24
Hours where his team finished 5th overall.
Before we move on F1, I do feel the need to address something that has been brought up multiple
times. The rumours that Lance had a better car because his father was rich, that his team-mates
never had a chance etc. I think that is complete bullshit and frankly manly used to underline his
talent. Even with the best car, the worst driver would do something wrong. Sure you can call him
mid but considering the huge gap he had in his second year, I think it's fair to say he had talent in
him. Also the fact that Felix regularly comments on Lance posts does not seem like there is any bad
will against him. Yes, he had better equipment etc. to win but the way he wrapped up the season still
speaks to his talent.
2017- The start of it all
Lance started his F1 career in 2017 with Williams. His team mate then was Felipe Massa. This was
a huge leap considering Lance short experience with Formula racing and it was understandably
questioned. Nonetheless 2017 saw him starting alongside Felipe who jumped into that seat after Val
signed with Mercedes following Nico's retirement. I think it is also noteworthy to mention here that
in 2016 he already was a development driver for them so there was always the probability for him
to drive. I personally think he could and should have done another year in Formula racing (F2) but
that is my own opinion. What people however also seem to forget is that will it might have been to
early for him in F1, he did have a bit of experience as the Williams development driver. And
considering that they had just lost Val who looked like one of the youngest and most promising
drivers on that grid, it made sense for them to search for another young driver for their team.
He made his depute in the Australian GP. During that third free practice, he crashed as he was going
too fast which then resulted in him having a penalty (he qualified last.) At the race start he gained
about 7 places before he had brake issues and had to retire the car.
His second race saw him qualifying tenth but immediately taken out on the first lap by Sergio
(could be argued for a race incident but I think there's more blame on Perez.)
Now, his third race same him time wise qualify closer to his team mate but only in 12th place. In the
race he flat spotted his tyre and did an early pitstop before his collision with Sainz. (Sainz came out
of the pit lane very quick and just dive bombed into him. He was behind even after exiting the pit
lane so Sainz should have waited for Lance to drive past.)
Russia finally saw a turn around in his luck. He once again qualified 12th and finished the race in
P11. His fifth race after that saw him just mere 3 tenth off his team mate but sadly out in Q1 and
overall he finished P16.
Monaco saw him crash out in FP2 and qualify 18th. He got up to 15th and then later in the race had to
retire because of overheating brakes. Luck once again not on his side.
Canada finally saw a change when he not only qualified 7th but managed to come 9th in the race. He
finally scored his first points in his home race.
Then Azerbaijan happened and for the first time ever Lance out-qualified his team mate and got 8th.
But that is nothing compared to the drive he managed to pull off in that race. He wasn't the quickest
but he once again proved that sometimes just consistently driving is enough to get into a good
position and then profit from it. Many of the top teams drivers dropped out due to penalties or
problems but that doesn't discredit Lance consistent drive in the top 10 which managed to get him a
podium spot. Incredible how he managed to keep a gap and his place and only just missed out
because of Val in the last corners. If not for that he would have gotten P2. A great race from him.
Next race once again not a great Qualifying in P18 but still managed P10. The first two laps saw
Lance move up to P11 and then hang around that most of the race.
Next race he qualified 16h (penalty moving him up 1 place) and dropped to 16th .
The next race he qualified 17th and finished 14th. His qualifying was hindered by Kvyat.
After that he got once again unlucky and because off a damaged rear wing was only able to set one
lap which meant he qualified 18th and finished just outside the points in 11th.
Then, something I feel like many people also don't know, Lance started the next race as the
youngest driver ever on the front row (he originally qualified only 4th but penalties of both RedBull
drivers put him up to second place.) During that entire qualifying he was only slightly off from the
top 3 teams. Did he drop back during the race? Yes, he only finished 7th but you have to consider
that his car did not have the race pace to compete with any of the three top teams and he wasn't even
in the best midfield car.
Side note, this was a wet qualifying and just behind him was Esteban. Funnily enough that changed
in the race where he and Esteban where the best mid field drivers behind the top teams.
The next race yet again saw him qualify 18th and yet he finished the race in 8th. A chaotic race with
many DNFs saw Williams massively profit, especially Lance.
After that the following race saw him qualify 13th and once again finish 8th.
After that another qualifying in 18th. That race saw Lance up to 11th before he sadly went off and
then seemed to struggle with the car. After that he ultimately failed to finish as a result of a puncture
on his front wheel.
In the US GP he qualified 17th as a result of a penalty for him hindering Romain. The race saw him
finish 11th, just outside of the points.
Mexico saw him qualify 12th and finish in 6th. A great race from him where he was in the top 5 until
Seb overtook him.
After that he once again qualified 18th and finished 16th. He was two laps down after a problem with
a front tyre. The last race saw him qualifying 15th and he finished 18th
.
Another incident that many like to blame him for here is the post-race crash with Seb. Bizarre but
truly only because it seems like neither is really fully at fault. Also, if this is one of the only things
you can use against a driver, maybe you might want to reconsider if he truly is such a bad driver.
Anyways, I still put a video here for anyone that is interested. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRAN9pzdwsw
So, what does that mean for his first F1 season?
Well, his qualifying besides Imola you could argue was lacking pace and I absolutely will agree that
it was bad. Then again what would you expect in someone's first F1 season, especially when up
against a solid driver like Massa? Still, his qualifying definitely should have been better, I will
agree. He was too inconsistent and too far off.
In comparison to Massa he seemingly could make up places more easily though.
All of the negatives are clearly overshadowed by the fact that in his first F1 season he was only 3
points behind his team-mate with double the amount of DNFs.
Not to mention that he not only is one of the youngest podium sitters but he is also the youngest
front row starter (All in his first season.)
He had 4 DNFs of which he was not at fault for anyone of those (maybe in the racing incident but
then again I see the blame more at Perez side than anyone else’s.)
Yes he had about 3 free practices were he crashed then again he is was a rookie. Sure it's not great
but accidents like that happen especially when you are not only new to the car but the entire form of
racing.
So, all in all if you look at his statistics:
For his first season he managed a podium, a front row start and 6 points finishes in maybe the 6th
best car? He finished just three points behind his team-mate in 12th (with 40 points) in the overall
standing. His average Qualifying position was 14 and his average race finish was 11th.
Considering he had no F1 experience, had only been racing in Formula championships for 3 years
at that point and was up against Felipe Massa who is still regarded very highly, I would say he did
quiet al-right.
If anyone is interested in his DNFs, so you can form your own opinion:
Sadly I can't find a video of his first incident but the race is easy to find.
Here is him and Perez https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ka11N-hLshE
Here is a video of him and Sainz colliding https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDNGfCTpJpQ
This was in China where he had a puncture on his front wheel (Also he could barely avoid Daniel
since it is hard to steer when your wheel is like that yet he still managed to not make it into a big
incident which I think deserves some credit)
https://www.facebook.com/Formula1/videos/japan-
2017-lance-strolls-puncture/907887256034924/
2018- a season to forget
Now in 2018, without a doubt there was a huge step back which is because that car was truly not it.
I would say it was the worst car on the grid, therefore you should take these results as the lest
credible. That Williams wasn't predictable in many ways and you could probably name this as the
season the team went downhill. With Sergey as a new teammate and Lance only a year in F1, there
also was the problem with having inexperienced drivers to give feedback for that car and lead the
team.
In the opening race he qualified 14th and finished in that same position. After that he qualified 20th
and finished 14th again. China saw him 18th and once again finish 14th
.
Then he just merely missed out on 10th and qualified 11th and somehow managed to get into the
points at 8th. I should mention however that this race saw may DNFs but I think he still did a good
job with that car.
Spain saw him 19th but he managed to finish 11th in that race. Again capitalizing from DNF but still
impressive considering he qualified behind his teammate.
His bad qualifying continued with 18th and saw him finish in 17th
.
Sadly at his home race it wasn't much better with a 17th place and DNF after a collision with
Brendon Hartley. France saw him qualify last again and DNF as a result of a tyre blow out.
After that he finally managed to get into Q2 again, qualifying 15th and finishing in 14th , getting a
10-second penalty for ignoring blue flags.
In Great Britain Lance had to start from the pit lane because parts of his car were changed and still
managed to finish 12th. Once again he was able to profit from some unfortunate DNFs but still a
good drive.
In the 11th race he qualified 19th and once again had a DNF as a result of a problem with his brakes
(They retired the car during a safety car period).
The next race saw him qualify 15th but start from the pit lane due to changes under Parc-fermé
which meant he only finished 17th. Spa saw him qualify 19th again and finish 13th.
Monza finally brought good results in a 10th place in Qualy and a 9th place finish. He was nearly the
best of the rest in a car that somehow just seemed to work on that track. Probably his best race of
that season. A great drive.
After that he qualified 20h again and finished 14th. Once again making up places and outplacing his
teammate.
Russia saw him last in Qualifying and 15th in the race. Then he qualified 14th and finished 17th.
The US GP saw him qualify 18th and finish 14th. Qualifying in Mexico saw Lance 19th again but he
finished the race in 12th.
That picture didn't really change much in Brazil where he once again was 19th and finished 18th. And
the season didn't really end on a high. Qualifying last and finishing in 13th.
So, how can we sum this up?
Well, even though this season was arguably his worst he still somehow got 6 points which is 5 more
than his team mate Sergei Sirotkin. While his Qualifying still was lacking(an average of 17), it is
still impressive that with that car he managed to have an average race finishing position of 13th. It is
also notable that he was often times making up at least 3 places in his races where he finished
higher which given the struggle that car seemed to be is worthy of noting. In comparison to his
team-mate it is clear that Lance struggles in Qualy but consistently finishes in a similar position.
Out of the two of them he also managed to get multiple points finishes even though he qualified
further back, something which I would argue is a strength of him. Yes most of their points finishes
were as a result of the others misfortune but still, they had to capitalize during these races and most
of that did come from Lance. Also, quiet a bit of Qualy saw him closer to his teammate.
Here's the DNFs for anyone that is interested:
Canada was arguably the biggest one where I understand why people might blame Lance but seeing
how unpredictable that oversteer was and how he struggled with the car I would say it was more a
racing incident than anything.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwPn_GCa3mU
The tyre blow out in France https://twitter.com/F1/status/1010997824928878592
There isn't anything about Germany but watching the race you will see them retire the car towards
the end.
2019- a season of change
Lance went to Racing Point and now has Sergio Perez as his team mate. Obviously with Lawrence
buying RP and saving that team as well as Esteban losing his seat, Lance was not at all well
received and already was guaranteed to be heavily judged, more so than what would have likely
been fair. While I do get that point of Esteban losing his seat, I would also argue that the team of
Sergio and Esteban was clearly not working and would have in the long run probably cost that team
more points than they liked so I think there also is a tactical reason behind it.
In Australia he qualifies 16th but what people don't remember is that in Q1 he and Checo were only
separated by less than a tenth of a second. That race sees Lance finishing 9th. After managing his
tyres longer than Perez he managed to stay in the top 10,even closing in to 8th while having to keep
others behind.
The second race of the season sees Lance qualifying 18th and finishing 14th. Next race Lance
qualifies 16th and finished 12th.
The fourth race sees Lance qualify 16th and finishing 9th. He made up a flew places and was even
closing in at the end.
Spain sees Lance qualify 17th and not finishing after coming together with Lando.
The next race saw Lance qualifying 18th just behind Sergio and ultimately finishing 16th.
Lance home race once again sees him qualify 18th just under a tenth behind Sergio. He manages to
finish in 9th place. Just going to add this little video that quickly shows some of the moves he made .
A great race for him.
https://www.facebook.com/Formula1/videos/canada-2019-stroll-puts-on-a-show-for-his-home-
fans/824107727965322/
The 8th race sees him in 18th but he manages to finish the race in 13th, just a place behind Sergio.
Austria once again sees Lance just a tenth behind Sergio in 17th and that race he finishes in 14th.
Something very similar happens the next race when Lance is just about a tenth of Sergio and
qualifies 18th. That race he finishes 13th.
The German GP sees Lance finally in Q2 in 15th place. That race he comes 4th. An incredible drive
to the surprise of many considering this is a wet race where a lot of drivers got themselves out of
podium positions. Yes he was leading that race for a short while and was potentially on for a
podium but I don't think there is any way he could have beaten that Ferrari or RedBull/Toro Rosso
package who just seemed more dominant. Yeah sure you could argue what would have happened
but the fact was, Racing Point made the smartest decision that race and got the maximum points
thanks to Lance driving.
After that great race he qualifies 19th and finishes 17th.
In Belgium he qualifies 13th but due to changes of car parts starts from the back. Despite that he still
finishes that race in 10th place.
The next race he finally manages to outqualify Sergio by quiet a margin and gets himself into Q3
and 9th place. Sadly he drops back to 12th in the race.
In Singapore he once again is less than a tenth behind Sergio in Q1 but sadly only manages P16.
During that race he gets up to 13th place.
Russia sees him P15 (P14 after a penalty for Pierre) and then up to P11. He just missed out on
points.
In Japan he once again outqualifies Sergio and get P12, managing to climb up to P9. He finished
just behind Checo.
Mexico saw him 16th and getting up to 12th.
In the US GP Lance once again by a huge margin manages to outqualify Sergio and gets 14th place.
In the race he finishes 13th. In Brazil he qualifies 17th and DNFs. The last race sees him qualify 13th
and sadly not finishing.
This was an incident at Monza that many like to use against Lance where Seb clearly rejoins the
track in an unsafe manner causing Lance to nearly crash. Lance does it similarly and I agree that it
was stupid from him but also Lance clearly was on the racing line and his engineers should have
told him who was coming from behind as every driver would want to go back into the race and
away from the racing line. You can clearly see by the speed of the cars behind that the field was
close together. Still not a good manoeuvre from Lance but in my opinion different from Seb.
https://www.facebook.com/Formula1/videos/2019-italian-grand-prix-vettel-and-stroll-collide-at-
monza/269709670687851/
So what can we say about Lance's season?
I think he showed a step up in Qualy. If you look at his and Checo's times in most Q1s they were
often less than 3 tenths apart and they were times when Lance was even less than a tenth off. I think
he was still inconsistent but his Qualifying definitely improved. And I think the big points gap is
largely down to Lance qualifying further back. You can see that there are quiet a few races where
they made up the same places but because Lance qualified further back so he got less points.
Then again you have to question how much of their points or performance difference might be
down to Checo having been with the team for a longer time and being a more experienced driver.
Did he outperform the car? Did Lance underperform? I think you can see progress here from Lance
and I think many people misjudge their points difference. You also have to see that Lance in that
year could have gotten a podium and scored the teams highest result. If you round their averages,
Lance qualifies 15/16th place and finishes 12 while Sergio qualifies around 12/13th place and has an
average finish of 10th
.
Here's the DNFs for anyone that wants to check them out:
This is Lance and Lando. Honestly, for me a pure racing incident. Lance didn't expect Lando to
make a move there, Lando might have been a bit too enthusiastic with that manoeuvre. I wouldn't
put blame on one of them, just a simply misjudgement and miscommunication that cost both of
them the race.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.spanish-gp-norris-stroll-clash-brings-out-
the-safety-car.6060938080001.html
In Brazil he ran over debrief and as a result of that might have broken his front suspension.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.brazilian-gp-stroll-retires-with-front-suspension-damage.1687522499774886264.html
In Abu Dhabi there is firstly a first lap incident which damages his car. I can see fault on his part but
I also think that this is just a typical first lap incident that is unfortunate. I couldn't exactly find a
clip where it shows him retiring but ultimately a brake issue forced him to retire.
2020 and the story of what could have been
Oh 2020 my behated. Lance is still with Racing Point and still has Sergio as a team mate.
The first race saw him qualify 9th and than immediately out of the race. He had to retire with engine
issues and could have possibly scored points had that not happened (he would have likely been P8
or P9.) The next race saw qualify 13th and finish 7th just behind Sergio. An incredible drive that saw
him defending his position until the line quiet literally.
Hungary saw him start from P3, an incredible Qualifying and finish P4, just behind the Mercedes
and Max. He was basically a top driver during that weekend. There was no better result to achieve.
The British GP after that ended with him in P9 after starting P6.
In the Anniversary GP he started P6 and finished in P6.
The sixth race saw him start from P5 and finish in P4. Once again being the best outside of the
expected top 3.
It continued so well with a start and finish of P9 in Spa.
It got even better when Monza came and Lance managed P3 after starting P8. Yes, he did throw
away a potential win but I am certain that he would have been overtaken by Sainz anyway because
he had more speed that weekend with the McLaren package so I don't think he could have ever
finished higher than P2.
And then it went downhill with Mugello, kick-starting the “What ifs”. From P6 (he moved up after
Perez took a penalty) to a DNF. A puncture sent him to the barriers possibly costing him a podium.
Before going off he was P4 chasing P3. At the very least he would have gotten a P5 finish.
Next up was Russia where Lance qualified 13th. When I say it starts to go downhill, I mean it. He
was fighting for P11/P12 and then got taken out by Charles. I am certain he would have at least got
P10 if he hadn't crashed out, potentially even up to P8.
The next race Lance misses out because of Covid so on to Portugal we go. He qualified 12th, not
bad. Then of course there is the incident with Lando which for me personally was a racing incident
but I can see the blame on Lance. It was an ambitious move, some might cool it reckless but so
many people would be praising any other driver if that had worked. It ultimately resulted in him
having to retire because of that damage.
Next up was Imola where Lance started 15th and finished 13th. Due to contact with Esteban during
the first lap he had to pit early and that basically ruined any chance he had at the race.
And then Turkey happened. The heartbreak and elation that weekend inspired. First off all, if
anyone tries to discredit Lance Pole as anything other than possibly one of the greatest Qualifying
results in the last years I am smashing their heads with a hammer. Yes that Racing Point was a fast
car. Yes, they obviously could be podium contenders if Mercedes or RedBull messed up. But considering Max reputation and Lewis pure race craft, I don't think anyone thought that they would
be anything other than the top 2 drivers. And in comes Lance with a lap about 3 tenth faster than
Max in a worse car.
Incredible. And then Racing Point saw that and + Sergio's P3 and went “Nah, we can only have one
of them on the podium.” During that race I genuinely thought the first 30 laps that Lance would
win. And then they go against his pit call which turns out to have made things worse (no pace) and
discover later on that Lance had a problem with his front wing which slowed him down. Therefore
he only got 9th.
I don't really want to talk about Bahrain because the only thing that mattered about that race was
seeing Romain get out of the car but I have to if I want to recap Lance performance. I am going to
keep it short. He qualified 13th and didn't finish as he was turned upside down by Kvyat. Would
have probably been a points finish but truly nothing of that race really matters or mattered other
than Romain being okay.
The next race finally saw something good again with Lance qualifying 10th and being third on that
podium. This was overshadowed by Sergio's win but it was a great result from him and the team.
The last race saw Lance in P8 and finishing in P10.
Spain had a great start for him again which I just want to add here.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.spanish-grand-prix-stroll-overtakes-bottas-with-amazing-start.1687526223371988110.html
So, what is the overall season summary?
This was without a doubt Lance best season. I mean come on. The only reason why people think he
did bad is because they merely look at the points which you can't. Lance had so many DNFs this
season where he wasn't at fault and which meant he missed out on huge points. I don't doubt that if
he only had half of the DNFs or even if Turkey had gone the way it should have, he would very
much be closer to Checo. Without a doubt he was never as close to a team-mate than he was in
2020. Even Qualy shows how mostly they were so close pace was. I think he would have had at
least 2 other podiums (Mugello and Turkey) if luck had just been a bit more on his side. So
therefore I think he would have had at least a 100 points. Sadly that didn't happen.
But this was
undoubtedly his greatest season so let's just collect his achievement that he did have:
He got the best qualifying results of the team that year, a pole and a third place. He also got two
podiums and two fourth place finish. All the races expect 1 that he finished were Top 10 finishes.
He outqualified his team mate multiple times.
Here are the DNFs if anyone wants to look them up:
There is no clip I can find of the Austria GP since they basically just call him into the pits.
The Mugello DNF (This is a fairly heavy crash so don't watch it if you can't see stuff like that) A
possible puncture, another incident completely out of his hands.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1ebaeSw8ZE
This was Russia where Lance got taken out by Charles. I don't really think it's the worst attempt I
have seen but yeah, blame to Charles because he clearly saw Lance if that camera perspective is
anything to go by.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.2020-russian-grand-prix-sainz-and-stroll-crash-out-in-chaotic-sochi-race-start.1687515300528811143.html
Lance and Lando's collision during the Portuguese GP (I can accept that the move by Lance wasn't
the smartest and I can also fully understand why people blame him.) However I think so many
people jumped on this because of the Free Practice incident between Max and Lance where it was
clearly just a miscommunication and misunderstanding.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.2020-portuguese-grand-prix-stroll-and-norris-collide-at-turn-1.1687510148078074772.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QJTAVnaLRI
(This is said Free Practice accident)
Kyvat flipping Lance (again you shouldn’t watch this if you cant deal with heavier crashes). Some
say racing incident, I would say more blame an Daniil but I am just happy Lance was okay
especially after Romain's accident before.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.2020-bahrain-grand-prix-stroll-flips-and-crashes-after-kvyat-contact.1687510862145773128.html
2021- up against a champion
Now it's time for change! Not only is the team now Aston Martin but Seb is Lance new team mate.
And the car is well there.
In the first race Lance outqualifies Seb and not only starts but also finishes in 10th.
Imola presents a similar picture where Lance outqualifies Seb and gets 10th place. And he finishes
8th! Sure he got a 5 second penalty for leaving the track but that is still a good start to the season.
In the third race it starts to go a bit downhill with Lance qualifying in 17th and finishing in 14th , just
behind Seb in 13th.
Spain once again sees Lance start and finish in the same place, this time 11th. That qualy saw him
just miss out on P10 where he was off less than 10/1000. He had some good battles though like with
Fernando.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.2021-spanish-grand-prix-stroll-wins-wheel-to-wheel-battle-with-alonso.1699487558908336755.html
The next race is good once again. Lance qualifies 13th and finishes 8th. Considering that this is
Monaco and there isn't really any overtaking opportunity, that's huge especially with Seb finishing
P5.
Baku sees well a bit of a downer. First he has his Qualy crash (Absolutely his mistake then again
hitting the wall happens to many drivers) and during his race he suffers a tyre blow out which
causes him to crash
(See the qualy crash here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txr4NfOoZys).
In France he once again fails to set a qualy time to get out of Q1 but more as a result of bad timing.
He couldn't have predicted the others would crash so no fault on him there. He even managed to set
a lap which was sadly deleted but would have been faster than Sebs. He somehow manages to get
back to 10th place just one behind Seb in the race.
Styria sees Lance qualify in P10 and finish in P8.
The next race once again sees him P10 in Qualy and then the race finishes with him in P13 with a 5
second penalty for speeding in the pit lane.
The tenth race sees him start in P15 and finish in P14 in the sprint. In the actual race he gets P8.
Hungary looks promising with a P12 start but then well carnage happens. I will comment on those
incidents in a bit.
On to Spa where he qualified P15 but was sent back to P20 as a result of the collision in Hungary. I
won't talk about this race because it was still one of the biggest jokes and bullshit things this sport
has done in recent years. Lance got a penalty for the work done under the stopped race. All in all a
weekend to forget.
Zandvoort could be promising with a P12 start. Nothing major happens, he also finishes P12. He
has a moment with Seb where Lance moves across from Seb to possibly cover him off from
overtaking him. Dangerous driving I will admit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLT3XQ96FAY
Monza sees him Qualify 12th and manage to get up to 10th during the sprint qualy. In the race he
finishes P7. He does another borderline move on Seb which I won't deny. I however feel like people
over dramatize it. For me that wasn't nice but it was still okay. The only reason why people really
criticize it so much is because you shouldn't do that to a teammate. Again I can understand why
people dislike it but that still doesn't take away from the great job Lance did that weekend,
considering he just missed out on Q3.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rRMnO3mmPY
Russia is there, with a P8 start and a P11 finish. But we obviously have to talk about it. Not only did
he have a great start where he overtook multiple cars but he also hit the wall and had contact with
Seb. He hit the wall as it started to rain but he was still able to keep going. The incident with Seb is
well yeah Lance fault. But I think it wasn't so much mean spirited as more plain underestimating
space and possible struggle with the conditions. Seb even said that it was a misunderstanding and
that Lance probably didn't see or expect him there.
https://www.facebook.com/Formula1/videos/2021-russian-grand-prix-mega-stroll-start/228625209311917/
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.2021-russian-grand-prix-onboard-as-stroll-slides-into-the-wall.1712063737151581609.html
Turkey has a P9 start and a P9 finish but once again shows Lance skill as it is a wet race.
The next GP sees a P12 start and P12 finish. Quiet a race though as Lance was first spun by
Nicholas Latifi and then nearly had a collision with Mazepin.
https://www.facebook.com/Formula1/videos/2021-united-states-grand-prix-nicholas-latifi-and-
lance-stroll-collide/248666900567613/
https://www.facebook.com/Formula1/videos/2021-united-states-grand-prix-mazepin-strolls-close-
call/402411924879898/
Mexico comes with a slap of penalties so qualy doesn't really matter anyway. He also crashes in
Qualy. https://www.facebook.com/Formula1/videos/2021-mexico-city-grand-prix-stroll-crashes-
out-of-quali/627086791628083/
Still a P14 finish though.
Brazil once again sees the useless sprint Qualy which manages to get Lance up from P15 to P14.
Nothing really happens in that race position wise for him so he stays P14. However he has a scrap
with Yuki which honestly was just Yuki in my opinion trying a way too ambitious move. They
actually fought quiet a bit that race. Lance retired in the race as a result of the damage he suffered from the accident in the first lap.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.2021-sao-paulo-grand-prix-tsunoda-and-stroll-collide-at-interlagos.1716425125628029095.html
Quater sees Lance in P12 and he manages to get a P6 finish! A great drive from him especially
considering that he had to make his tyres last longer.
The penultimate race sees both Astons struggling in Qualy with Lance in P18. He manages to get up
to P11.
We don't want to talk about Abu Dhabi because it was a robbery and a shit show but we have to
because people keep saying it was only bad for Lewis when drivers like Lance where also
massively effected by the FIAs incompetence. He started P13 and finished that race but by god was
it a nightmare. I am just going to leave the comms between him and his engineer here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wK5SbgqcjIA
My summary:
While last season showed how great Lance can be, this season was huge for him in terms of
development. Not only did he outqualify Seb multiple times but he also was incredible consistent.
Almost every race saw him somewhere between 8 or 12th with an average finish of 11th. Yes Seb has
more points but almost half of those came from his podium (which I am absolutely not discrediting
or taking away, just merely pointing it out.) If you consider that Seb has over 10 years in that sport
compared to Lance rushed into it and now being in his 5th + Seb being one of the greatest for many,
it truly speaks to Lance credit how close he was to him and how much he managed to consistently
score.
I won't deny that this however also is the season where I would argue Lance had some
questionable manoeuvres and many borderline racing incidents. This however also shows that even
with a car that wasn't great Lance was consistently in the midfield battling for points.
Here's the DNFs:
Baku which sadly was just out of his hands
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.2021-azerbaijan-grand-prix-stroll-escapes-heavy-high-speed-crash.1701823437935060912.html
The Hungary chaos from multiple perspectives. You can clearly see that Lance is of course at fault
for it but he immediately recognizes that and apologizes. There's been mistranslations where it
looks like he blames Val which is not true. He knows he fucked up. Drivers look up but yeah totally
on him although I will say I first thought he was trying to avoid that carnage by going onto the
grass. In his interview after he says he possibly ran over debrief which given the carnage in front of
him isn't hard to believe. So yeah, for me personally more of a domino effect then anything.
Valtteri's bad start set a series of unfortunate events into motion.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.2021-hungarian-grand-prix-drivers-react-to-turn-1-
crash.1707071583705474820.html
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.lance-stroll-reacts-to-disaster-hungarian-grand-prix-start-crash.1706899140973058269.html
2022- a shitbox in green
Another year at Aston Martin with Seb but instead of a bad car they now got a green tractor to
honour Sebs environmental perspective.
In the first race Lance qualified 19th and finished 12th. The second race sees Lance start in P15 and
finish P13 but a lap earlier due to a longer pit stop and damage after coming together with Alex.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.2022-saudi-arabian-grand-prix-albon-found-to-blame-for-clash-with-stroll.1728538480607161440.html
Australia sees well a bizarre qualifying. Lance and Nicky crash during Q1 for which Lance later
gets penalized. In my opinion completely undeserved. As you can see, Nicky clearly moves over to
let cars pass which Lance then does only for Nicky to seemingly want to retake that position very
fast with a much to small gap. I don't fully blame Nicky but I understand why Lance didn't expect
him to come back so quickly and I personally see it as a bad communication example more than an
accident where you have to shift blame.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.2022-australian-gp-qualifying-latifis-car-destroyed-in-bizarre-crash-with-stroll.1729611513723725817.html
In the race he manages to get back up to P12.
Imola once again has a sprint weekend which doesn't affect Lance who still remains P15. In the race
he manages to get back to P10.
The new Miami race sees Lance qualify from P10 but due to an issue he has to start from the pit
lane. And still he gets P10.
The sixth race he quallified 18th and finished 15th. He didn't really score points but he could have
scored higher had he not been spun around by Pierre.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lSP08f5Slk
Next up was Monaco. Lance qualifies P18 and finishes P14. He hit the wall during the formation
lap but then again it was a wet race.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.2022-monaco-grand-prix-latifi-and-stroll-hit-the-barriers-on-wet-formation-lap-in-monaco.1734171020113023239.html
Baku saw Lance qualifying 19th and not finishing. His Qualy which I will give people was bad. Like
crashing twice (also the second time was a result of the first) isn't what you should expect from
someone who at that point was 5 years in F1. However he had engine issues that entire weekend
which is also why he didn't finish so you start to wonder if they maybe played a tiny role.
His home race saw him qualify P18 again but he finally got points again with a P10. His move on
Seb was dangerous and probably cost Seb a position or two. But also, Lance start in that race was
like incredible. What a great start.
https://twitter.com/F1/status/1591574059808165888?lang=de
https://twitter.com/F1/status/1587415154936930304
Silverstone sees Lance start last and finish in 11th. A good start which saw him avoid all the chaos
in front.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7_Elsl4jGM
Austria once again sees a sprint which means he goes from P17 to P13. Nothing changed in the race
and he finished in P13. Some battles that were nice but ultimately with the Aston Martin tractor not
that great.
The next race saw Lance once again in P17 and finishing in P10. An incredible race from him and I just want to show his start because we rarely ever saw how great his starts can be and how close the
midfield is.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOaKfdx6wrw
Hungary saw Lance qualify P14, finally into Q2 again. The race saw him finish P11. Considering
he got spun around at one point by Daniel I would say that's a good result.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5I-95BkUK4
Next up was Spa where Lance once again got into Q2 and qualified 14th. Because of penalties of
other drivers he started P9 and finished P11.
Zandvoort saw him even into Q3 and qualify P10 which is also where he finished the race.
Up next was Monza where he was once again starting from P17 but because of penalties got pushed
up to 12th which was very promising. Sadly he had to retire the car because of breaks overheating.
The next race had Lance start from P12 and finish in P6.
And then Japan came back. Lance only qualified P19 but finished P12. The start he had to that race
was just wow. During a wet race he not only managed to overtake multiple cars but he also just
quiet literally drove past them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwJvwpCnRwU
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.2022-japanese-grand-prix-lance-stroll-makes-lightning-
start-to-go-from-19th-to-p11-on-opening-lap.1746188182712421933.html
Next up was the US GP where he qualified 7th which considering he was best of the rest in a car that
was 9th fastest deserves a shout-out. Especially when it put him up to 5th because of other penalties.
Sadly his race was over rather quickly. He DNFed after colliding with Fernando.
https://www.facebook.com/Formula1/videos/2022-united-states-grand-prix-fernando-alonso-and-
lance-stroll-come-together/885762125676389/
I have seen people say that Lance move is dangerous but you are allowed to move over to defend
from an opponent, some of you need to remember that. Yes he should have moved more clearly but
there was still like Lance said enough space. I think it was just a bit misjudged which lead to the
racing incident. But yes I can see why people were to put blame on to Lance since he should have
not just moved a bit or could have defended it later. He got a penalty for his move which would be
applied in Mexico.
A penalty that I agree with because his defending was too robust and late.
Mexico saw Lance start as a result of his penalty for last race. He finished 15th.
Brazil saw him qualify 15th and finish 16th in the sprint. What he did during the sprint to Seb I'll
agree was a bad move. In the race he managed to get back up to 10th.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hCpPzHBQ1k
The last race saw Lance start 14th and finish 8th.
I think looking back on it now especially comparing it to 2021 and 2020 which were undoubtedly
some of Lance best performances, it's hurts seeing 2022. There were many mistakes made by him
and I think a lot of that is also down to him just not seeming to be comfortable with the car plus
Aston just struggling in general. Lance Qualifying was definitely lacking and there is no doubt that
he clashed more with Seb than he should have. I won't say many of the incidents he had that season
reflect good on him.
However I think it's truly unfair that people would judge him based of one
season that was bad when he had a car that was nearly the worst car on the grid. It is also very clear
that controlling that car was very difficult.
I also raise the question again: How much better do we expect him to perform against Seb? This isn't me
dismissing his incidents this is merely looking at results.
How much can you really expect from Lance to be close to Seb in that car without trying to
diminish as arguably the better driver? How much can we compare their performances? Or rather
how much can we judge Lance especially when he was against Seb, a 4 time world champion, a
runner up multiple times?
If we were to merely look at results for this (which I have started before aren't everything), we will
see that really they aren't that far apart. In the races where both of them finished they are mostly
only 2-3 places apart which is interesting if you consider that Lance often qualified further back.
But, like I said results don't speak for everything so if you were to say which season was Lance
worst, I would probably say this.
I want to draw your attention now though to some positives from that season like Lance amazing
start in Japan which shows he is talented.
Or the fact that Lance got Aston Martin's highest Qualifying that season with 7th which turned into a
start from P5 after penalties of other drivers were applied. He also had the most positions gained
and was in the top 10 for most overtakes in that season.
Here are the DNFs:
This is Lance and Alex making contact which resulted in both of them out of the race. Personally a
racing incident for me as they seemingly both misjudged the space or weren't expecting the other to
turn in. I would argue it's a bit ambitious from Alex but I don't think it was penalty deserving on either end.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDg9cweEbew
Side-note: I also don't know why people think Lance crashes a lot or is know for his dangerous
driving. Sure during his first season he crashed twice in free practice and had a few DNFs but
almost 80% of his DNFs are either not his fault or simple race incidents. Then again he had 2 other
free practice crashes in his second season but that doesn't make him a bad driver? The worst he ever
clashed with another driver was Seb in 2022 which I will give people. However I really don't see
why people say he is famous for colliding with others when many couldn't recall any incident that
involved him and another driver that wasn't in 2022 or the last season. He isn't memorable for bad
driving although 2022 might reflect badly on him.
So what is the conclusion?
Why did I title this document the way that it is?
That is simple to answer. I completely mean it.
In his career if we ignore 2018, Lance has had/has the following teammates:
- Felipe Massa, who was nearly a WDC
- Sergio Perez who was one of the best midfield drivers at that time
- Sebastian Vettel, a 4x WDC
and now Fernando Alonso, a 2xWDC.
People forget that not only was Lance in F1 with very little experience at an early age but he has
also had world class drivers, some regarded as the greatest as his teammates.
Not only that but he has consistently improved over the years and had rarely any bad clashes that he
was responsible for.
The worst he did was against a 4 x WDC in one of the worst, if not the worst car on the grid, a car
that he didn't feel confident in and that was hardly able to be predicated and difficult to control. That
was his worst year in F1 where a lot of the mistakes where his fault without a doubt.
But people truly forget how great Lance can perform, especially in the wet and how he dominated
Perez in 2020 until his streak of luck was cut short to no fault of his own. Not only that but he
outqualified Seb in 2021 multiple times, was more consistent than him with his race result etc.
Not to mention the things he has already achieved.
He is one of the youngest podium sitters, the youngest front row starter (all from his first season),
has multiple podiums (and would have had more if not for his unlucky streak in the later half of
2020), has a pole and has managed to be close to many of his teammates (if you don't only lock at
results.) Not to mention that even though his qualifying was inconsistent, he always had good
standout performances.
And he is one of the best starters on that grid. There are some races where he just drives past 5+
cars like it's nothing which often shouldn't even be possible with his bad car.
Yes, he was inconsistent in Qualy many times and yes he had some questionable drives but the later
can be said for almost any driver on the grid. Drivers are bound to make mistakes and also
sometimes experienced ones because it happens.
Considering how well he is doing in this season with a still healing injury, I truly do not get how he
is this discredited and underrated. When it comes to teammates he has arguably had some of the
hardest to compete against in the last years.
Not to mention he came into this sport without anyone believing he deserved there. He even questioned his own place in this sport which is bullshit considering he had enough wins and champions to warrant an F1 seat.
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