Lance Stroll continued his upswing in form, following up his first points in Formula 1 in his home race at Montreal with his best ever qualifying position at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, posting the eighth fastest time in Q3.
Today also marked the first time Stroll had beaten his Williams team-mate Felipe Massa in a qualifying battle, edging ahead of the veteran driver by half a tenth for intra-team honours.
“It was a good day, and it has been a good weekend,” enthused the rookie. “I am comfortable and confident in the car. I like the circuit and today everything fell into place.”
Despite the personal best effort, the 18 year old felt he still had more to give, citing his superior pace in the second qualifying session. He did not get a chance to set a lap-time before Daniel Ricciardo‘s crash brought out the red flag, and so was left with only three and a half minutes to set a representative time.
“I missed a bit in Q3, and I think there was some more that was possible there, as we were four tenths off compared to my lap in Q2. In Q3, because the track temperatures had dropped, it was hard to get the tyres ready in one lap and also because of the red flag, we only had time to do one push lap.
“Sometimes round here it is better when you do one push lap, then another prep lap and then another push lap. But it is still a great result and I am just happy for the team.”
