In a chaotic, rain-hit 2025 British Grand Prix that saw McLaren claim another 1-2, Lance Stroll walked away with a hard-fought seventh-place finish for Aston Martin at the team's home race. But despite the top-10 result and valuable points haul, the Canadian didn't mince his words over the team radio about the AMR25, moments after crossing the line.
The frustration came after a weekend of mixed form for the Silverstone-based team. Stroll started the race from 17th following a disrupted Qualifying session, but carved his way through the field thanks to a sharp pit strategy and inspired calls during the constantly changing conditions. Still, for the driver, the underlying limitations of the car overshadowed the result.
After taking the flag in seventh, the team radioed in praise:
Gary Gannon (Radio Engineer): "So, crazy car to drive, amazing finish."
Lance Stroll: "Crazy is an understatement, I mean it's the worst piece of s**t I've ever driven in my life, to be honest. But it's OK, P7."
Aston Martin arrived at Silverstone with a package of aero upgrades, a reworked floor, modified floor fences, floor edge detail changes, and a revised engine cover. They were aimed at extracting more local load and rear grip. But on Saturday, the team's form remained inconsistent. While Fernando Alonso managed to reach Q3 and started P7 after grid penalties reshuffled the order, Stroll hit trouble in Q1.
Red flag interruptions, including one mid-flying lap, left the Canadian without a clean run. He was knocked out in P18, visibly frustrated, as he headed into race day knowing the race would be a damage limitation affair. The race, however, brought opportunities.

Heavy rain lingered around the track, and with intermittent showers, strategy would become the deciding factor. Lance Stroll and Alonso both started on intermediates. But when the Virtual Safety Car came out early, the team boldly pitted Lance for softs. The timing proved critical as he gained close to ten seconds in the middle sector alone on slicks before the downpour returned.
As chaos unfolded around him, Stroll switched back to intermediates. From 17th, he climbed to fourth at one stage. But as the track dried and DRS was enabled, the car's weakness in managing tire degradation became clear, and the Aston Martin was forced to settle for seventh.
Team Principal Andy Cowell, however, defended the team's race-day effort (via Aston Martin):
"Lance drove very well today. He didn't put a wheel out of place. Given the pace of the car, P7 is a great result. In these rainy races, you often reflect and see opportunities where you could have done things differently… but we can be pleased to get both cars in the points at our home race."
Despite the difference in tone between the pit wall and the cockpit, Aston Martin had reason to be satisfied. It was the team's second double-points finish of the season.
P7 after P18: How the British GP unfolded for Lance Stroll

Lance Stroll's post-race frustration wasn't entirely unfounded. Despite the upgrades, his Aston Martin felt on edge all afternoon, unsustainable in grip and consistency. It started wet, transitioned to slicks, then swung back again as rain returned mid-race, as the weather shaped everything at Silverstone.
Stroll's confidence in tricky conditions paid off. But the moment DRS came into play and the track dried further, Stroll lost ground to Lewis Hamilton, Nico Hulkenberg, and Pierre Gasly in the final laps, who were on fresher tires.
Even after the flag, the disappointment lingered. In his post-race comments, Stroll tried to strike a more balanced tone.
"It was a tricky race, intense race, mixed conditions, happy to pick up some points in the end, good strategy calls. It was a good race from where we started for sure, bit disappointed in the end to lose out on those positions. I thought we could maybe hang on, but we're just really struggling with tire degradation and that kind of put us on the back foot."
The upgrades helped stabilize the car's balance, but not enough to compete with the McLaren, or even the resurgent Kick Sauber of Hulkenberg.
Aston Martin is now eighth in the Constructors' Championship with 36 points, clear of Haas and Alpine. Lance Stroll is up to P12 in the Drivers' standings with 20 points.