Lance Stroll applauded Aston Martin for the strong development work that led to the AMR22's upswing in performance in the second part of 2022, but the Canadian says his team now needs to uphold its momentum into the start of 2023.
Aston's new-generation car was among F1's early laggards at the start of the year, leaving the team with a heavy workload on its hands to improve its car as the season unfolded.
A significant upgrade package was introduced at the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona, and while improvements were incremental at first, a bigger step forward was achieved in the latter part of the summer, which advanced Aston position in the running order.
"I think we really struggled at the beginning of the year," said Stroll, quoted by Formula1.com. "
"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."
Stroll praised his team for the good work, and hopes that Aston will pick up at the start of 2023 where it left off in Abu Dhabi last month.
"I think the guys have done a great job at improving the car," he added. "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."
But the 24-year-old who will be paired with a new teammate next season, namely Fernando Alonso who replaces Sebastian Vettel, also took away from 2022 the crucial importance of having clean races to make the most of every opportunity that may come Aston's way.
For instance, Aston suffered double DNFs at Monza and at the Circuit of the Americas earlier this year, with Stroll crashing out of a top-ten finish in Austin after a spectacular collision with Alonso's Alpine.
"I think it's all about having… clean races," he said. "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."
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