Aston Martin Formula 1 boss Mike Krack was puzzled with the gap between Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll that resulted in a “bittersweet” qualifying in Japan.
Alonso impressed with his fourth successive top-10 appearance, placing his upgraded AMR24 in fifth, but Stroll was among the five who were eliminated in Q1.
The Silverstone-based squad has become a definitive top-five team since the start of last term, meaning top-10 qualifying appearances should be all but assured.
Therefore, Krack was unsure as to what triggered the lack of one-lap pace on Stroll’s side that will witness the Canadian line-up only 16th for tomorrow’s grand prix.
“A bittersweet Qualifying in Suzuka,” Krack said on reflection.
“Our target is always to get both cars into Q3. We did not achieve that, and so we need to have a closer look at Lance’s AMR24 as the gap between both cars was substantial.
“As the sessions progressed, Fernando managed to get more and more out of the car. We can be pleased with P5.
“The entire team has done a great job to prepare this update package.
“We worked with discipline, ensuring we ran back-to-back comparison tests yesterday to aid our decisions.
“I want to thank the team in the garage who stayed late to add the updates to Fernando’s car. Suzuka rewards a strong car, so we will see what tomorrow brings. We want to finish with both cars in the points.”
Despite receiving the update package a day in advance of Alonso, Stroll was once again looking a firm second best to his veteran team-mate across the weekend.
“I just didn’t have the pace I needed in Qualifying today and we don’t yet understand why,” Stroll said.
“I think I was pushing to the limit of what my car was capable of, but I was lacking the speed to get out of Q3.
“The update package seems to be working on Fernando’s AMR24, so we’ll take a look this evening to see if there’s anything else that could have been impacting my car.
“There’s a lot of work to do ahead of the Grand Prix; we’ll have to make the most of any opportunities that come our way tomorrow.”
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