Otmar Szafnauer Praises Lance Stroll For ‘Intelligent’ Drive As Aston Martin Scores Point on F1 Return

Aston Martin Team Principal, Otmar Szafnauer has praised Lance Stroll for an “intelligent” drive to tenth on Aston Martin’s return to F1 at 2021 Bahrain Grand Prix. 

Stroll enjoyed a competitive drive in midfield on a two-stop strategy which paid dividends, as he clung on for tenth and the final point in Aston Martin’s first F1 race for over 60 years despite a late drop in performance on the hard tyres.

Szafnauer in particular was impressed with Stroll’s performance, which he described as a “strong and intelligent race,” in which he drove a long second stint on hard tyres from lap 28 to the checkered flag.

In terms of race pace, Szafnauer also noted that Stroll was roughly on par with his midfield rivals but admitted that the rule changes have had an effect, saying; “It is clear the new regulations have impacted more negatively on teams – such as ourselves – running a low rake aero philosophy.”

Stroll meanwhile is “pleased” to have taken a point after enjoying a “strong” race despite a drop-off in performance on the hard tyres, admitting that he felt that the team can take ‘plenty of positives’ from this season opener.

Sebastian Vettel meanwhile endured a difficult debut for the team as a grid penalty for ignoring yellow flags in Qualifying left him last on the grid, which forced him onto a one stop strategy.

Despite running in the middle of the top ten for part of the race, Vettel eventually struggled with tyre performance which he and Szafnauer admitted made his race “tricky” on top of rear-ending Alpine’s Esteban Ocon to send both spinning mid-race.

Vettel though felt that he and the team are continuing to develop together, saying; “Even though it has not been the best weekend, we have continued learning together and understanding where we can improve.”

Offering his final thoughts on the weekend and where Aston Martin go from this race onwards, Szafnauer said; “We will take the positives and negatives from the first weekend of the season and work hard over the next few weeks to be more competitive at the next race in Imola.”