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Aston Martin F1 driver Lance Stroll claimed that he did not have 'anything positive to say' after a dismal P16 finish in the Japanese Grand Prix qualifying session.
The Canadian driver was the 'shock' of the Q1 session as he failed to get out of the bottom five and take his upgraded AMR24 out of the session. The Silverstone-based team chose to give priority to Stroll over his experienced two-time world champion teammate Fernando Alonso for upgrades.
However, they managed to give Alonso the upgrades a day later ahead of the FP3 session. As per The Race, Lance Stroll was left mystified with his result and did not have any positive comments regarding his performance or the upgrades. He said:
"The upgrades, I don't have anything positive to say about it but it looks good on Fernando."
Speaking with F1TV, the Aston Martin driver added that he felt 'fine' but the pace was slow, adding:
“Everything felt fine. Just very slow today. No pace in the car and no pace in myself in my car. The car looks quick and Fernando was quick, so I don’t know. I don’t have more answers.
“We have to look at the data, see if tires, everything was working properly in the right window. It’s just one of those days, I don’t know, I don’t have answers yet, we have to look at everything.”
Fernando Alonso gives his take on the upgraded Aston Martin
Fernando Alonso stated that he and the team will analyze the data overnight to look at the improvements made from the old package to the new one ahead of the main race on Sunday.
Speaking with Motorsport, the Aston Martin driver said:
"Yesterday I had the old package, today the new package. Tonight, we will have all the data to confirm that, and to quantify the improvement, but everything felt good in qualifying. Little bit unexpected, to be that competitive, to be honest.
The Spanish driver also added that the team have closed the gap on Red Bull in Japan as they were over a second behind in 2023 compared to this year, adding:
"Just a couple of hundreds from [Sainz] Ferrari, Leclerc [is] behind us, Piastri behind us and Mercedes. So we were here six months ago - 1.5 seconds from pole position. And now we are four-tenths."
It will be interesting to see if Aston Martin can fight for a podium slot with Alonso as he starts P5 and also get into points with Lance Stroll, who will look to mount a comeback.
