Aston Martin experienced a qualifying of extremes at the Formula 1 Australian GP. While Fernando Alonso was optimistic about the performance of the AMR26, Lance Stroll was not even able to take to the track to complete a lap.
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The two-time Spanish champion was the team’s only representative on track during qualifying. Unsurprisingly, he failed to advance from Q1, but managed to qualify ahead of the Cadillac duo and the other three drivers who did not set a time – his Canadian teammate, Max Verstappen, and Carlos Sainz.
Starting in 17th place, the driver was motivated after the good result achieved in Melbourne. “We had a trouble-free free practice in FP3 and it seems we were able to gain a lot of lap time in qualifying simply by doing more laps. The car has potential, so of course we need more mileage,” he said.
“We are low on batteries and therefore cannot risk much tomorrow, but we hope to be able to complete as many laps as possible. We face this challenge together and everyone in the team and at Honda has been working tirelessly to improve this situation,” he added.
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On the other hand, Stroll only regretted not being able to run and highlighted the difficult time in Australia.
“It has been a difficult weekend so far, with some problems that prevented us from doing the necessary laps. The team in the pits has been working hard, but there wasn’t enough time to rebuild the car before qualifying. We are not where we would like to be at the moment, but we will continue to push and work to improve,” he said.
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