Lance Stroll’s Frustration at Japanese Grand Prix Misinterpreted
At the Japanese Grand Prix, Lance Stroll found himself starting from 16th on the grid after a disappointing qualifying performance. However, he managed to make progress and finished 12th in the race at Suzuka. But in the closing stages, as he battled with Yuki Tsunoda’s RB, he voiced his frustration at the rate his Japanese rival was pulling away on the straights.
Many compared Stroll’s outburst to Fernando Alonso’s famous ‘GP2 engine’ radio message at the 2015 Japanese Grand Prix. However, the reality of Stroll’s frustration was quite different from Alonso’s. It was not a lack of straightline performance from Aston Martin, but rather an illusion caused by the better tyres of his rivals.
Team principal Mike Krack revealed that he had looked into the circumstances surrounding Stroll’s complaint and found that it was actually nothing to do with the Canadian’s Aston Martin lacking top speed. Instead, it was a result of rivals having better tyres, which gave them greater traction and allowed them to accelerate and reach top speed earlier.
<section class=”contenteditable=”false” draggable=”true” data-widget=”image” data-width=”1200″ data-height=”800″ data-link data-id=”68661583″ data-title=”Lance Stroll, Aston Martin AMR24″ data-author=”Sam Bloxham / Kosport Magazine” data-custom=”false” data-src=”http://cdn.kosportmagazine.com/images/mgl/YXRADKN0/s8/lance-stroll-aston-martin-amr2.jpg“>
Lance Stroll, Aston Martin AMR24
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Kosport Magazine
“This is something I have looked at actually,” said Krack when asked about Stroll’s frustration. “What you see across the field is that there are very small differences in terms of straightline performance. But what you have is that at different times of the race, there are different tyre conditions, and the acceleration out of the corners is different.”
He further explained, “If you look at the power-limited data, you see that all the cars are very similar. But the tyre conditions at various times of the race, you are offset by different laps of tyres, and then you accelerate differently.”
Speed trap figures from the Japanese GP also showed that there were only small differences between Stroll and Tsunoda. At the sector two speed trap, Tsunoda’s top speed was 304.8km/h, while Stroll’s was 303.4km/h.
Summary:
Lance Stroll’s frustration at the Japanese Grand Prix was misinterpreted as a lack of straightline performance from Aston Martin. However, team principal Mike Krack revealed that it was actually an illusion caused by rivals having better tyres. This was evident in the small speed differences between Stroll and Tsunoda in the speed trap figures. Stroll’s outburst was a result of the better traction and acceleration of his rivals, not a lack of performance from his team.
