Aston Martin chairman opens up on troubling early-season form

During Martin Brundle’s traditional grid walk in the build-up to the Australian Grand Prix, one of the people he stopped to speak to was the Canadian billionaire himself.

Stroll described the team’s current difficult situation as “very unexpected”, while stressing that the focus now is on responding to the setback, adding that the team will “put our heads down and work our way through it.”

Asked how long he believes it might take to turn things around and pull the team out of the slump, Stroll concluded: “I hope as soon as possible, is the answer.”

Speaking to GPblog after the race, Stroll admitted that calling it racing would be something of a stretch, explaining that the team simply went out on track and completed laps, with the outing effectively becoming the only meaningful running he managed across the entire weekend. He added that at least it allowed him to log a few kilometres and get a better feel for the circuit.

Stroll also acknowledged that Aston Martin’s biggest problems at the moment are a lack of pace and ongoing reliability concerns, stressing that those two areas remain the team’s main challenges.