Lance Stroll says he "could not drive freely" with Aston Martin’s AMR23 for the better part of the 2023 season, as his confidence had gone amiss. But late changes went a long way towards improving his form and his results.
Stroll's journey through the year began with remarkable dedication, as he defied the odds to make it to the grid for the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix following a pre-season cycling accident.
However, as the season progressed, Stroll found himself at odds with Aston’s AMR23 and struggling to keep pace with Alonso's consistent performances.
The period of pressure tested Stroll's mental fortitude, especially as public opinion raised doubts about his future with his father’s outfit which faced challenges of its own over the summer as its performance dwindled in the wake of inefficient upgrades.
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But as the team backtracked from its development direction, Stroll’s comfort improved.
The Canadian outqualified Alonso in Brazil and claimed a succession of strong fifth-place finishes at Interlagos and a fortnight later in Las Vegas.
"It feels good to do well, for sure," he said, reflecting on his troubled 2023 campaign.
"But I knew that if I feel the platform working well underneath me, and I can drive the car freely without kind of dealing and driving around things that inherently bothered me in the car, I'd be at a good level and I'd get the most out of myself.
"And I know that for a few months with changes that were made, there were weekends where I just couldn't get into that place where I felt free in the car, and I can just drive at my best. Because it just wasn't behaving the way I wanted.
"And at this level when you have those issues, when the car is just not behaving how you want inherently, and it doesn't agree with your driving style, it won't work.”
Engulfed in an enduring slump, Stroll soldiered on, insisting he couldn’t afford to doubt himself. Patience therefore was a virtue.
"I think in those moments you can't put the doubt on yourself,” he said. “It's like you just have to know that when it's going to be there and it's going to behave the way you want, it's going to go well, and when it's not there it's not going to behave the way you want it's going to be more challenging.
"That's F1, the drivers are all very high level, you can never be competitive if you're not comfortable and confident in your car and just driving freely and it's working. I think that's my perception of it."
©AstonMartin
While he struggled to come to grips with Aston’s contender during the first half of the season, Stroll was also hindered by mechanical issues that frequently undermined his sessions and races.
"Yeah, it's been a season with a lot of bad luck, a lot of missed opportunity," he said. "I don't like using the words bad luck, but I think missed opportunities.
"But I guess it's bad luck when I think about the failures and stuff. But I think it’s part of the season. Sometimes it goes your way a lot. And sometimes it doesn't always go your way.
"And I think as long as you try and just kind of stay present and focus on one weekend at a time, all these things that kind of go wrong can change very quickly the next race, and they all go right.
"And if you're not totally present and caught up in the past, about everything that did happen, sometimes you miss those opportunities when they can next present themselves. And that's not good. I think it's really about being present. "
"It's really about taking it one race at a time. And accepting that it can be a rollercoaster sometimes. And it's not always smooth sailing, it's not always a straight line, I guess that's racing to an extent."
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