Lance Stroll is laughed at and/or sneered at by everyone in F1

Column

no one in f1 takes stroll seriously any more
21 April at 17:00

Lance Stroll is starting to become the laughing stock of the Formula 1 grid. You start asking yourself whether he should not be protected from himself. The media were already not fans of him, but now even team owners and drivers no longer take him seriously.

The image of Lando Norris and Max Verstappen was telling. Norris sat in shock watching the image of Lance Stroll crashing into Daniel Ricciardo entering the hairpin. Max Verstappen could not hide it either, as he even burst out laughing when the moment was shown.

Together they had a bit of a laugh about it, and the comparison with Daniil Kvyat was quickly made. Kvyat was nicknamed 'Torpedo' by Sebastian Vettel during the 2016 Chinese GP. The two still held back as they were aware of the camera, but the initial reaction was telling.

Formula 1 no longer takes Stroll seriously

Daniel Ricciardo was understandably not able to laugh at Stroll's action. Ricciardo said he had calmed down, but became angrier during the interview, eventually ending with 'f*** that guy' with the written media. Indeed, it became increasingly clear to Ricciardo that Stroll was looking to blame the people braking in front of him and not himself.

Disbelief was shown on Ricciardo's face. How could Stroll really say this was not his fault? Indeed, in all the interviews, it seems Stroll actually meant it wasn't his fault. That very fact makes his incompetence as a racer painfully obvious.

Ricciardo describes it correctly. In that situation, you only pay attention to the car in front of you. You are not allowed to overtake anyone, so if the car in front of you goes, you go too. Looking further ahead makes no sense and is even dangerous at a hairpin. After all, you know that a concertina effect can occur then because the driver in front wants to wait as long as possible.

No one will know what Stroll was doing. One thing is clear, he was not paying attention to the man in front of him. Stroll was looking into the corner and, therefore, completely unaware that the drivers in front of him were braking. In any case, the one who hits the other driver is the one to blame, not the one braking, except when there's an unexpected brake test.

No one takes Stroll seriously anymore

Everyone in the paddock seems to be done with Stroll. Drivers laugh at him or get angry when it damages their race. Team principals don't take Stroll seriously either. When Toto Wolff was asked on Friday who was competing for pole, he listed the following names: Red Bull, McLaren, Ferrari, Alonso and Mercedes. Right, not Aston Martin, but only Alonso. Drivers and team principals at McLaren and Ferrari have also been caught making statements like this before.

The media has been done with Lance Stroll for much longer. Indeed, his attitude towards the press is nothing to write home about. In Qatar last year, he made quite a fool of himself in an F1TV interview by saying only a few words, but most journalists know that this is standard practice for written media. He also barely spoke to the press in China on Friday and Saturday.

On Sunday, he stood with the written media for more than a minute, but the answers always seem to show he is disinterested and heavily aggrieved. He feels everyone is against him, but he really made it that way himself. The team blame it on Stroll being shy, but everyone knows better.

Stroll knows too well that it does not matter how he behaves towards colleagues, competitors or the media. His father makes sure he gets to keep his seat anyway, and Fernando Alonso and Mike Krack gleefully joined in that charade this week. In the press conference, Alonso praised his teammate and the team principals also revealed that it is just a matter of time before there is clarity on Stroll's future.

Lawrence Stroll may have the biggest plans for Aston Martin and made some really good business choices with the investments in the factory, wind tunnel, and the partnership with Honda. His blind spot, however, is his son. He is allowed to stay put despite everything, and it is very simple: with a driver of this level, you are never going to be world-class.