After briefly taking third place last time out in Spain, Lance Stroll is confident that BWT Racing Point F1 Team can take ‘a lot of points’ in this week’s Belgian Grand Prix.
The weekend unfortunately marks one year since the tragic crash that took the life of rising young star Anthoine Hubert and hospitalised Juan Manuel Correa. To pay tribute, Racing Point- along with the other nine teams- will run a special ‘AH19’ decal on their cars to commemorate the talented French prodigy, as well as observing a one minute silence prior to the race.
Stroll hoping to continue forward momentum at Spa
In a bid to regain the points lost in the copying scandal a few weeks ago, Stroll is aiming for a high finish in his controversial RP20. The Canadian conveyed his excitement to be back racing at the legendary Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium, a country where he has close family ties to.
“It’s a great track and traditionally it’s been good for our car. A Formula 1 car really comes to life at Spa, just like it does at Silverstone or Suzuka. You really get to feel the sensation of pushing a car to its limit and understanding what it can do at these kinds of circuits.”
“My mum is Belgian born, so there’s some Belgian blood in me. It’s always great to ‘go back’ to Belgium and hopefully I can get a strong result too. Spa is always a highlight of the season for me and I can’t wait to get out there.”
As a rather wholesome finishing touch, Stroll also expressed his relief to see team-mate Sergio Pérez swiftly and soundly back in his element after a two-week break infected with COVID-19.
“It was great to see [Sergio] back behind the wheel. We all missed having him around and we’re happy he was able to recover so quickly. We push each other forward. You could definitely see that in qualifying and during the Grand Prix too. That’s what you want from a team-mate.”
With regards to Pérez himself, the Mexican driver is looking forward to Spa. The historic circuit is somewhere he has had a good track record at in previous years and he hopes to continue his fine form in 2020 there.
“We did a really good job last time out in turning our qualifying form into a strong race result and executing our strategy well too. We can take that momentum to Spa, target a lot of points and try to keep pushing in the Constructors’ Championship.”
“I’m quite proud of my record at Spa. I’ve finished in the top five there a few times, so it’s definitely one of my stronger circuits. I’m enjoying driving the RP20 and it has performed strongly at different types of circuit this season. If we put everything together, we can fight for another strong result this weekend.”
