Racing Point's Lance Stroll has revelled in his first points finish with his new Formula 1 team at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in what he described as a race filled with 'a lot of pressure'.
Stroll made yet another one of his traditional starts, making up several places on the opening lap after starting in 16th place. He continued his forward momentum via a different strategy to his rivals by going deep into the race by starting on the yellow-marked medium tyres.
With a tightly-contested midfield pack fighting in such close proximity, the Canadian driver said he felt under pressure for the entire race distance whilst trying to attack cars in front as well defend from those chasing him down.
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"I am really pleased with my race today – it has been a great day at the office," said Stroll. It’s really nice to pick up some points on the first weekend of the season, but it wasn’t easy.
"It was a really challenging afternoon, chasing [Nico] Hulkenberg and [Kimi] Raikkonen ahead of me while also keeping [Daniil] Kvyat and [Pierre] Gasly behind me for most of the race.
"I was under a lot of pressure and it was very tight, but I am glad we managed to pick up two points.
"We were always planning to go long with our strategy, we were starting out of position so we knew the key was to make a good start and gain some places in the opening stages, which we did.
"After that, we had good pace and managed to hold off the cars behind us on softer tyres than ours. We saw today that it’s going to be really close in the middle of the grid, but we are definitely in the fight."
Team Principal Otmar Szafnauer also praised Stroll on his efforts, describing it as a 'mature drive' by the 20-year-old.
"I’m delighted to see Lance score points in his first race with us," added Szafnauer. "It was a very mature drive and he thoroughly deserves this result.
"Scoring points is a great way to start the season after the huge effort back at base and trackside over the last few months."
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