Stroll manages 43 laps despite ongoing issues

Lance Stroll completed 43 laps of the Australian Grand Prix in two stints on Sunday afternoon after missing the entire day of track action on Saturday.

The Jewish Canadian began with an initial 36 laps in his problematic Aston Martin before returning to the pits, after which he rejoined the race 15 laps behind to complete an addition seven. It follows him not participating in Free Practice 3 and Qualifying due to ongoing issues with his power unit.

“Racing is a strong word, but we got out,” he said after the race. “I mean, it was the only session I did all weekend really. So it was nice to drive around the track a little bit and to get some kilometres in the car.”

Stroll said the most pressing problem was the car’s lack of speed and reliability. “That’s the biggest thing,” he said, noting that the vibration issues plaguing the car due to its flawed Honda engine had not improved through the weekend despite the team working to mitigate them.

Asked what engineers were working on during his extended pit stop between his stints on the track, he replied, “Setups, and then also we had some stuff to look at I think on the power unit. So, two things.”