2016 Formula 1 World Champion Nico Rosberg asserts that Aston Martin will have to consider dropping Lance Stroll if he fails to reduce the deficit to his team-mate.
Stroll recovered from missing the entirety of pre-season testing with two broken wrists to come home sixth in Bahrain before following that up with fourth place in Australia.
However, the Canadian’s form has slumped since and he has been unable to match new team-mate Fernando Alonso, who has notched seven podiums to Stroll’s zero.
The margin between the two Aston Martin drivers currently stands out at 123 points, with only the Red Bull pairing separated by more with eight rounds remaining this year.
Although Aston Martin Team Principal Mike Krack declared that the team must take some responsibility for Stroll’s lacklustre 2023, Rosberg says the British marque can’t afford such a continuous disparity between its two drivers going forward.
“I really don’t know what has happened to Stroll because he is a very good driver,” Rosberg told Sky Sports F1 during the Italian Grand Prix weekend.
“He showed at the start of this season that he can be close to Fernando. I think in the long term, Aston Martin can’t afford to have a driver who is so far away.
“Either Lance gets back to where he can be and where he should be, or they will have to consider whether to continue with him as a second driver.”
Whilst Alonso has continued to largely maximise the machinery underneath him and sits third in the Drivers’ standings, Rosberg outlined that the Spaniard still needs to be pushed by the occupant of the second car.
“Because you also have to push Fernando,” the German continued regarding Stroll’s competitiveness.
“The setup work is much better when there are two drivers involved. You have a completely different dynamic, so it is very important to have two drivers who are very fast.”
A tough weekend for Aston Martin at Monza witnessed the Silverstone-based squad slip behind Ferrari to fourth in the Constructors’ Championship.
Stroll’s chances were compromised from the outset when the ex-Williams racer was only able to complete three laps on Friday, having sat out FP1 before suffering a fuel system problem in the opening stages of FP2.
Consequently, he could only wound up with the slowest time in qualifying, labelling it the “worst session we’ve ever had”.
Although Alonso was able to progress to Q3, the two-time World Champion could not clock a time that would haul him above 10th on the grid.
Alonso would classify 9th in Sunday’s race, prompting the Spaniard to declare that Aston Martin required improvements to recapture its early-season competitiveness.
Krack has confirmed that Alonso and Stroll will partner each other again in 2024, ending speculation that the Canadian could elect to leave F1 on his own terms.
