Lance Stroll: “The tow does not appear to be as strong with this generation of cars”

Lance Stroll admitted it was a challenging Friday for the Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza, with the Canadian finishing only fifteenth and eighteenth across the two practice sessions.

The Canadian had a busy day as the team used the available track time to get as much data as they could on Friday, but Stroll says they were unable to find the ‘sweet spot’ around the low-downforce Monza circuit with his AMR22.

“It was quite a challenging day trying to dial the car into the sweet spot around this low-downforce set-up,” said Stroll.  “A busy job list and plenty of laps have given us a lot of data to go through tonight, so we will see where we can improve before qualifying. 

“It seems quite a few drivers are facing grid penalties, so that could mix up the grid and open up more opportunities.”

Stroll feels the tow that has been traditionally strong at Monza in the past has not shown itself to be as strong this year with the new-for-2022 FIA Formula 1 World Championship cars, and he feels this could change the way Qualifying goes on Saturday afternoon.

“Interestingly, the tow does not appear to be as strong with this generation of cars compared to last year, so that may change the dynamic of qualifying quite a bit,” he said.

“We still have some homework to do tonight” – Sebastian Vettel

Team-mate Sebastian Vettel, competing his final Italian Grand Prix before he retires from Formula 1 at the end of the season, sat out the first session on Friday as Aston Martin gave Nyck de Vries a chance behind the wheel.

On his return to the car in the second session, Vettel also struggled to find a good set-up and was only seventeenth fastest, although he feels the team know where they can improve and find gains before Saturday’s running.

“I shared the car with Nyck [de Vries] today and he did a good job with useful feedback,” said Vettel.  “It was an interesting experience being in that role of watching in the garage and listening to what he had to say on the radio.

“When I got in the car this afternoon, it was not the easiest session. I think these 2022 cars feel quite stiff here in Monza, particularly in the corners. The new tarmac in the chicanes also feels quite different compared to previous years.

“So we still have some homework to do tonight, but I think we already know where we can find some gains and improve the car ahead of tomorrow.”

Sebastian Vettel sat out first practice in Italy to give test driver Nyck de Vries a run in the AMR22 – Credit: Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team