F1: Defeated Stroll plays down violent Qatar tantrum
(GMM) Lance Stroll and his boss Mike Krack played down Stroll’s Qatar shoving incident as frustration over his and the car’s performance.
Amid swirling rumors about his future at his father’s Aston Martin team, and as he failed to even get past Q1 on Friday for the fourth consecutive time, the 24-year-old got out of his car and was seen violently shoving his trainer Henry Howe.
“It’s not so easy to condemn someone,” team boss Mike Krack said on Sunday, having been reluctant to comment earlier in the weekend.
“I usually try not to talk to drivers right after qualifying because I know how charged with adrenaline they can be,” he said, also referring to Stroll’s blunt 7-word post-session interview, in which one of the words was an expletive.
“But I think sport thrives on such emotions and you shouldn’t condemn it too much when you’re in a situation like that. So there is no problem in the team. We talked about it. It’s all ok.”
However, apart from shoving his trainer, Canadian Stroll also threw his expensive steering wheel across the garage – so did he apologize for that?
“He did,” Krack insisted. “No problem.”
What has been a problem, he admitted, is the flagging performance of the 2023 car.
“We have more improvements planned in the next few races coming up and I hope to be able to turn it around,” Krack told DAZN.
“We have dropped a bit in the last few races, which is hard for the whole team, so it is important that we push to add something to the car and be more competitive.”
As for the violence directed at osteopath and performance coach Henry Howe, Lance himself commented: “Everything is fine with us.
“He’s close to me. We go through frustration together, we travel together. He’s my bro. We have a good relationship. Everything is smooth for us.”
The reaction on social media to Stroll’s tantrum, however, has been brutal, with many urging his billionaire father Lawrence to sack Lance.
“I don’t watch social media on a weekend. I sit in the car and drive it,” Lance insisted.
He said the reason for his frustration spilling over is his frustration with his and the team’s recent performances.
“It is obvious that we have reached a dead end with the car and the situation is not getting better. And the whole team is disappointed,” said Stroll.
“We want to achieve more, we want to become better, but now we just have to fight. I’m also struggling with the car to find a balance. I can’t get it to be as good as it used to be, which is very frustrating.”
Stroll’s frustration, however, started to show again during the media scrum with reporters, asking at one point: “Do you have any other questions?”
Someone then asked him if he will be working on his anger management.
“I hate it when I have a bad day. I will not change,” the Canadian answered.