Lance Stroll attributes Aston Martin’s Formula 1 regression over the last 12 months to it being unable to maximise upgrades due to a wrong direction in development.
Aston Martin capitalised on several teams being held back with incorrect car philosophies to emerge as Red Bull’s closest challenger in the opening rounds last term.
However, Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes sustained improvements with mid-season concept changes and soon demoted Aston Martin down the championship order.
The Silverstone-based squad has slipped behind even more this season as updates have not delivered the expected gains and left the side fighting within the midfield.
Aston Martin has been unable to register a race result higher than fifth across the first 12 rounds in 2024 and has scored 115 less than at the same stage last season.
Stroll has explained that Aston Martin ventured down a mistaken avenue with development and has had to bide its time to make corrections whilst its rivals improved.
“We were there beginning of last year,” Stroll said last week at Silverstone.
“I don’t think we were totally there, we were not in position to win races last year, but we had a quick car and some podiums and a lot of top fives and stuff.
“I think ultimately we took a bit of a wrong direction in terms of development philosophy.
“We went down the wrong path and we’ve slowly been realising that more and more.
“Now it’s a matter of changing path and then giving it time to develop and get good again by going down that different path.”
However, the Canadian, who will remain with the team through 2026, is optimistic that Aston Martin will use those harsh lessons to come back stronger in the future.
“We’ve done a lot of exploring and a lot of aero testing over the last 12 months,” he expanded.
“Every upgrade we’ve brought, we haven’t seen the benefit that we were hoping to see over the last year.
“I think we’ve learned a lot and now we’re really just trying to execute, fix the problem and make the car a lot faster.”
Stroll produced an encouraging race at Silverstone last weekend to head team-mate Fernando Alonso in seventh place as Aston Martin banked a double points finish.
But Stroll has conceded that his positive drive was not one that he relished as the intermittent showers prevalent throughout proceedings created an added challenge.
“I was not confident, I was s****ing my pants,” he reflected.
“When it starts raining at such a high-speed track like this, the mixed conditions are so tough because you’ve got to really keep your foot in it, believe and commit to the corners.
“But with a bit of rain on the visor, wet patches creeping in, it is just so easy to lose the car and hit the barrier.
“It was definitely one of the more intense races, it was a bit like Canada earlier in the year.
“I wanted a little bit more but still it was a good race and so much could have gone wrong in the mixed conditions.
“It was just so hard to keep the car on track in the first place, so to be honest, I’m happy to pick up the points.”
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