Hill surprised: 'They have exceeded everyone's expectations'

Damon Hill was impressed with Aston Martin's performance at the Bahrain Grand Prix. The team even achieved a podium finish with Fernando Alonso. The 1996 World Champion thinks a championship is just out of reach for the British team though.

In mid-2018, Lawrence Stroll bought the then Force India, which had major money problems. He changed the name to Racing Point and made big investments in the team. In 2021, Racing Point became the team as we know it today, Aston Martin.

Hill did not expect Aston Martin to be the second team in terms of speed at the season opener in Bahrain, but lauded the British team's performance. "They’ve exceeded everyone’s expectations, they’ve exceeded mine, and they’ve probably exceeded their own so they’re very, very delighted at the moment.”

When Stroll took over the team, he expressed big ambitions. He stated that the team could even compete for podium spots in the future. At the time, few people thought anything of that, but now the Brit thinks the Canadian has proved otherwise. "He proved everyone wrong. He’s put together this team, has put together the car. They’ve got Dan Fallows, who is ex-Red Bull and he knows a thing or two about what Red Bull are up to. So there’s a little bit of insight but they certainly won’t be getting any help from Red Bull from now on," Hill told Motorsportweek.com