A downbeat Lance Stroll suggests a multitude of issues with the car, tyres and his own driving cost him in qualifying for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix where the Canadian will start in fifteenth for the final race of his rookie campaign.
Stroll couldn’t pin his disappointing performance on any one issue, instead he points to a combination of car balance issues and costly traffic. But the Williams Martini Racing driver remains positive that he can score points one more time in 2017.
“It wasn’t the perfect day and not a great Qualifying,” said Stroll. “I never really got into it. I just couldn’t get the balance right and drive the car the way I wanted.
“It was hard as we still have the disadvantage of the old power unit after the change in Brazil. I also made too many little mistakes and I don’t think we were in the window for the tyres.
“I locked up in the last corner and lost it there on the first lap, and on the second lap there was a lot of traffic, and I was slower than I planned in the last sector.”
Stroll admits that Qualifying has been one of his weaker points in his rookie season, and he will be looking to go away during the winter and come back in 2018 with a better understanding of how to approach Saturday afternoons.
“We need to understand why this happens over the winter, to try and improve our Saturdays,” said Stroll. “I am not saying it is the end of the world as tomorrow is another day and we have started further back this year and come through to score some good points.”
