Fernando Alonso has highlighted the “sensitivity” of Lance Stroll’s technical feedback, a key ingredient in Aston Martin’s car development according to the Spaniard.
Alonso and Stroll are in their second season together at Aston Martin, and all signs point to the pair extending their partnership into the future, with the Spaniard recently committing to the team through 2026.
So far this season, there has been no real inner-team rivalry between the two-time world champion and the 25-year-old Canadian, with Alonso scoring 31 points in the first five races versus Stroll’s tally of 9.
The latter’s relative underperformance, which was already very much apparent last year, has led many to question Aston’s commons sense in keeping Stroll in its line-up.
But team owner Lawrence Stroll’s obvious bias appears set to persist.
Furthermore, Alonso believes that Stroll brings a critical perspective to the table, describing his teammate as being "a lot more sensitive to things" regarding the car's behavior.
This heightened sensitivity allows Stroll to provide detailed feedback to the engineers, which Alonso considers "crucial" to improving the car.
“I think Lance and myself, we are trying to help the team as much as we can,” commented Alonso last weekend in China.
“I think we have two different driving styles in some conditions. We have two different feelings with the car. I think Lance is a lot more sensitive to things than what I am, which I think is very important for the team.
©AstonMartin
“I think the analysis that Lance can reach and can feed back to the team is crucial to us and to improve the car. I’m a little bit [less] sensitive to things sometimes, and this is not a good thing.”
Despite their contrasting styles, Alonso emphasizes the value of their collaboration.
“I think we are [both] trying to help Aston as much as we can, and I think that the direction we develop the car and we finalise normally the set-ups on a weekend is exactly the same.
“We arrive to the same conclusion and maybe in a different way, and I think those two different styles is just a good thing for Aston.”
©AstonMartin
While Alonso can handle a car with imperfections, Stroll helps him unlock the car's full potential by pinpointing those very imperfections.
“I think sometimes I drive the car around the problems that we have, and that’s sometimes a good thing because I can drive any car at any moment and extract the 90 per cent of it,” he added.
“But to reach the 100 per cent of the potential of the car, I’m not able to do sometimes without the help from my team mate on the special details on the set-up or balance problems here and there.
“I think we benefit from each other in many different ways and this is a good thing at the moment.”
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