Lance Stroll labelled Formula 1’s Spanish Grand Prix as a “good race,” for the Williams Martini Racing team, despite failing to score points for the fourth time this season.
Stroll started 18th on the grid after crashing out on his final lap in the first qualifying segment. but a stronger Sunday meant the Canadian driver rose to finish just outside the points, in eleventh place.
Despite not adding to his four points from the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Stroll was upbeat after the race:
“We scored no points, but it was a good race,” he said. “I had a good start and I was right in the mix before I almost got caught out by a couple of spins ahead of me.
“Then it was was just steady running and I did everything I could, but just missed out on the points.
Best the team could hope for
After a troubled start to the season for the Williams team, Stroll described eleventh as “pretty much everything we could hope for,” on a track not suited to the FW41 package.
However, the 19-year-old was pleased with how the car handled its tyres. He said: “It was a bit tricky after the safety car period, as tyre warm up was hard and I suffered a bit, but all in all it was okay.
“The medium tyres were pretty easy to manage and I am really happy with the race we had.”
Stroll’s eighth place finish in Baku, and four point haul is the only time that Williams has finished in the top ten during a race this season, on a track which suited their low-downforce, low-drag design ethos.
Heading into the Monaco Grand Prix, Williams languishes at the foot of the constructors’ standings with four points, seven behind second bottom Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team on eleven.
The team’s second driver Sergey Sirotkin is one of only two drivers yet to score a point in the 2018 season, the other being Haas F1 Team’s Romain Grosjean.
