Lance Stroll: “It feels so good to pick up sixth place tonight”

After securing his best finish of the 2022 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season, Lance Stroll has hailed his team’s efforts around the Marina Bay Street Circuit as the Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team driver was able to secure a sixth-place finish at the Singapore Grand Prix.

Starting from the sixth row of the grid in eleventh place, Stroll would gain one place on the opening lap thanks to the slow start suffered by championship leader Max Verstappen. Stroll would soon fall outside the points on the following lap as the Dutchmen was able to make a late move heading into turn seven to get past the Canadian driver.

Stroll would make his move into the points-paying positions on lap twenty-one by taking advantage of the misfortune of Fernando Alonso’s retirement and Yuki Tsunoda’s slide. As a result of the two incidents, Stroll then found himself running in ninth place, directly behind Sebastian Vettel.

The Aston Martin driver would come in for his one and only pit-stop of the race on lap thirty-six and was able to execute the overcut on his teammate to rejoin the action in seventh place with Vettel placed behind him in eighth.

Stroll would once again gain a place as a result of Max Verstappen’s misfortune after the Dutchmen locked up attempting to overtake Lando Norris into turn seven. Stroll would come home to cross the finish line in sixth place and despite Verstappen’s best efforts to rectify his earlier mistake, the Canadian was able to finish two seconds ahead of the championship leader.

Speaking after the race, Stroll was left delighted after achieving his best result of the season, which has also helped Aston Martin climb two positions in the Constructor’s Standings.

“It feels so good to pick up sixth place tonight, which is my best result of the season. It was also a good day for Seb, so we have come away with a big bunch of points. That is great for everybody in the team who is working so hard. It was a tricky race: the track surface was very slippery for the whole race, and it was not easy to stay out of trouble. It took a very long time to dry, just as it did yesterday. It was just a case of waiting for the areas with the new asphalt to dry out before the switch to slicks, which we timed really well. We have moved up in the teams’ championship, which is important and a nice boost as we enter the final part of the season.”

Sebastian Vettel: “We can be happy with a strong result for the team”

Credit: Octane Photographic Ltd

The Marina Bay Street Circuit has been a happy hunting ground for Sebastian Vettel across his illustrious Formula 1 career and in his final ever Singapore Grand Prix the German driver was able to bow out on a high, securing a seventh-placed finish.

Lining up in thirteenth place on the starting grid, Vettel made a lightning-quick start to the race, gaining five positions on the opening lap and was up to eighth place. Vettel was soon pushing to overtake Pierre Gasly for seventh place but the arrival of Max Verstappen on the scene would soon complicate matters, and the German’s priority would become defending the Dutchmen while still attempting to pile the pressure on Gasly for seventh place.

Vettel was able to frustrate Verstappen in his pursuit to move up the grid but by the time of the safety-car restart, the Oracle Red Bull Racing driver was finally able to make the pass on the four-time world champion for eighth place.

The Aston Martin driver was able to comfortably run inside the points and was ahead of his teammate until Stroll was able to execute an overcut in the pits on the German, who had pitted the lap prior to Stroll for a set of medium tyres.

Vettel then became entangled in a battle with Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton for seventh place. The thirty-five-year-old driver was able to fend off Lewis Hamilton, who made a crucial error with just a minute remaining in the Grand Prix. Hamilton’s error gifted Verstappen eighth place, allowing the Dutchmen a free run at Vettel in the closing stages. Vettel would then once again fall to Verstappen as on the closing lap of the race Verstappen would make the overtake into turn seven.

Despite losing out on seventh place on the final lap of the race, Vettel chose to take the positives from his race, stating that he and the team should be ‘happy’ with their strong day at the office.

“I think we can be happy with a strong result for the team and scoring important points. It was not easy with some very difficult track conditions. The asphalt took a long time to dry and timing the switch to dry tyres was critical. Maybe we went a lap too early, but overall I am happy with the result.

“I had a very strong start to the race and the first lap was great fun. I was not very patient and I pushed really hard, and gained a few places. After that, I concentrated on looking after my Intermediate tyres because we knew that the track would take a long time to dry and they needed to last. I had a big battle with Lewis [Hamilton] and Max [Verstappen] in the closing laps. I was defending for many laps and it was a shame that Max got ahead of us on the final lap.”