Challenging British Grand Prix for Lance Stroll

With the Aston Martin F1 Team’s new headquarters just half a mile away from the circuit’s main entrance, Lance and the team headed to Silverstone with high hopes for the weekend ahead.

Practice

It was a mixed bag of results for Lance during the practice sessions for the British Grand Prix. FP1 saw him set the ninth fastest time whilst he improved in FP2 to go sixth fastest, but he dropped to P13 in mixed conditions for FP3.

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Qualifying

A frenetic wet-dry qualifying session, Lance would run as high as second in the closing stages of Q1, eventually ending up sixth and through to the second part of qualifying.

After a skirmish with Esteban Ocon late in the session, Lance exited Q2 having set a time good enough for P12, just one-and-a-half tenths outside the cut-off time.

WATCH: 2023 British Grand Prix Qualifying Highlights

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Race start

With the race underway, Lance made an excellent start, moving past Nico Hülkenberg and up into P11. He’d once again go wheel-to-wheel with Ocon, however, and have to fend of the Alpine at Luffield on the first lap.

During the first stint, Lance utilised his Medium tyres to pressure Alexander Albon ahead in P11, but couldn’t find his way past.

As cars further up the field began to pit, Charles Leclerc, George Russell and Carlos Sainz re-joined with fresh tyres just behind Lance, and the Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One® Team driver was unable to fend off their advances.

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Pit stop

On Lap 32, Lance switched to the Soft tyre after a 2.3-second stop, exiting the pits in P14. It would turn out to be unfortunate timing when Kevin Magnussen just ahead pulled over to the side of the Wellington Straight and bringing out the Safety Car.

Lance may have been elevated to P13 because of Magnussen’s retirement, but he would’ve gained much more of an advantage if he’d pitted just one lap later.

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Restart

Restarting the race in P12 on Lap 39, Lance got past Pierre Gasly but it wasn’t to last, as Gasly got back past at Luffield shortly thereafter.

For a third and final time, Lance and Gasly were side by side but on that occasion, they made contact with Lance receiving a five second penalty after the incident. After the penalty had been applied, Lance finished in P14.

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WATCH: 2023 British Grand Prix Highlights

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Lance Stroll, Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One® Team driver:

“It just wasn’t our day today. As we expected, the characteristics of this circuit didn’t quite suit the AMR23, and we struggled for pace out there. On a couple of occasions I was forced wide by Pierre [Gasly] and we made contact the second time; we’ll check this evening whether that caused any damage to the car. It’s been a tough weekend but our focus now shifts to Hungary – a circuit that should suit our car – where we’ll be pushing hard for a better result.”