Stroll: Botched starts in Brazil worth ‘a couple of positions’

Lance Stroll achieved in Brazil last Sunday his best result since last April’s Australian GP, but the Aston Martin driver believed that he could have added a few more points to his tally with better launches off the grid.

Last weekend’s Sao Paulo GP was red flagged following a start-line crash that involved Alex Albon and Kevin Magnussen, which allowed F1 fans to enjoy the sight and sounds of two standing starts.

Unfortunately, both launches were a laborious affair for Stroll who struggled to get up to speed when the lights went out and take full advantage of his excellent qualifying performance that had placed him third on the grid ahead of his Aston teammate Fernando Alonso.

But the Canadian lost out to the Spaniard on his first launch while his second start – from the third row – was even worse as he clocked in seventh at the end of the opening lap, having ceded positions to George Russell and to Sergio Perez.

• Read also: Alonso ‘huge experience’ trumped Perez's quicker car in Sao Paulo

"It was both starts, even on the second start, we were both pretty poor compared to the Mercedes and Red Bulls," Stroll explained.

"So it was kind of a bummer, and without that, I think there was maybe another couple of positions in it, but it is what it is."

While Alonso entertained the crowds with a mesmerizing duel with Perez in the closing stages of the race, Stroll navigated his way to fifth, claiming 10 points on the day or more points than he scored in the previous ten races put together.

And for good measure, thanks to Alonso’s remarkable display, Aston bagged 25 points overall, its second-best aggregate result of the year.

The Silverstone-based outfit’s strong performance at Interlagos followed a series of difficult races capped by its double DNF in Mexico.

In Brazil, Aston opted to run a blend of new and old spec elements across its cars, and from the outset the team enjoyed a step up in its performance.

“We learned a bunch of things over the last couple of months, and we didn't have pace like this," commented Stroll.

"I can't really remember [when we did have such good pace], it was probably like Canada or Austria, so it is really positive.

"We will have to look into the data and understand [everything] with the car this weekend, but we've definitely been competitive."

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