Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll redefined brevity in the media pen after Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix, offering reporters a verbal output so sparse it might as well have been Morse code.
The Canadian, who finished a woeful 18th, a full lap behind race winner Max Verstappen, treated journalists to a litany of shrugs, silences, and single-syllable grunts, leaving even his team’s PR staff squirming.
With Aston Martin’s season showing flickers of promise, Stroll’s dour demeanor at Monza was a reminder that his enthusiasm for the spotlight remains as vibrant as a rainy day in Montreal.
Stroll’s race was a tyre-punishing slog, with Aston Martin gambling on a one-stop strategy that saw him limp through nearly 50 laps on a single set of hard rubber.
When it was suggested that the plan had perhaps not fulfilled its expectations, Stroll mustered a laconic “Yep”.
And that was it.
Invited to elaborate on his race? Silence. Pushed about Esteban Ocon forcing him off at the Variante della Roggia – an incident that earned the Alpine driver a penalty? Nothing.
Asked if there was anything positive to take away from Monza, Stroll dug deep for two words: “Not much.”
By then, Aston Martin’s PR team looked like they were praying for the ground to swallow them whole.
One reporter pressed on: “Did Esteban squeeze you?” Stroll didn’t answer. “Do you agree with the penalty he got?” At last, the Canadian summoned one final gem: “I don't have anything to say about it.”
And then he walked off. Curtain closed.
Krack Runs Damage Limitation
While Stroll was apparently auditioning for the role of world’s least enthusiastic interviewee, Aston Martin’s chief trackside officer Mike Krack was left to clean up the mess in the team debrief.
When told of Stroll’s stonewalling and asked if he was upset about strategy, Krack insisted otherwise:
“No, I think in these situations when you have a race with almost no degradation and you start from the back, you have to hope for opportunities.
“We always get safety cars when we have done our pitstops, so we said let's wait until the safety car comes this time and then it doesn't come.
“It is normal that you are a bit frustrated because you are fighting for nothing, although you are pushing to the limit. So I can understand a certain level of frustration.”
Krack also admitted the team hadn’t helped matters with a botched pit stop.
“There was an issue on the pit gantry that we need to understand. We have downloaded now the log data and this is another thing that will have to be analysed,” he said.
Does He Even Want to Be Here?
For many in the paddock, the question isn’t so much why Stroll doesn’t talk, but whether he actually enjoys being a racing driver at all.
Whispers are growing louder about whether the 26-year-old’s heart is truly in racing. With his billionaire father owning the team, the 27-year-old’s seat is as secure as Fort Knox, but his listless media performances and lackluster results have many wondering if he’d be happier sipping maple syrup back in Canada.
Until then, expect Formula 1’s most reluctant star to continue to redefine the art of saying nothing.
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