“Seventh was the maximum we could have achieved” – Lance Stroll

Lance Stroll put in an impressive drive at the Italian Grand Prix to claim an important seventh place, adding crucial points to the team’s constructors tally. Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team team-mate Sebastian Vettel suffered a difficult race at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza.

Stroll made an excellent start to the race after starting ninth, however the Canadian made unfortunate contact with Vettel at turn six on the opening lap, which effectively ruined Vettel’s hope of points. From then on though Stroll drove strongly in what became a relatively easy drive to claim a seventh place finish, the Canadian driver did well to keep Fernando Alonso behind for the entirety of the race.

The Canadian believes seventh is the best result the team could’ve asked for from the Italian Grand Prix, as the team struggled with straight line speed.

“Finishing P7 is a good result and a great job by the team. It was a case of pushing the entire race because the field was pretty close throughout. We managed to find a good spot with the car. While we were not quite as quick as some of the others on the straights, we were strong in the corners, and we were able to make that work for us.

“I think seventh was the maximum we could have achieved today considering our race pace. After three races in a row, it is nice to have a bit of a break before we head to Russia and I am looking forward to getting back in the car there.”

“My race was done on the first lap” – Sebastian Vettel

Sebastian Vettel had a torrid Italian Grand Prix, the four-time world champion had made an excellent start to the race before being forced offline by team-mate Stroll on the opening lap.

This dropped Vettel several places, the German to add to his woes also collected damage through his collision with Stroll. Vettel was in the wars again several laps later this time with Esteban Ocon, the Alpine F1 Team driver cut across Vettel entering turn four in what was a poor piece of driving by the Frenchman.

The team then pitted Vettel just before the safety car came out for Lewis Hamilton’s and Max Verstappen’s crash, dropping the German further down the order. After the safety car restart yet another driver made contact with Vettel, this time it was Mick Schumacher who hit Vettel’s rear going into turn one and two. The German’s car became too damaged to make any real progress, the highlight of Vettel’s race was an excellent battle with Robert Kubica in the closing stages.

Twelfth was the best Vettel could manage, in what was a race where nothing seemed to go right for the German who will be hoping for better luck in Russia.

“It was not our day today. My race was done on the first lap. I made a good start and managed to avoid the bottleneck through the first chicane, but I was pushed wide at Turn Six and lost a lot of places, which was made worse by drivers cutting the chicane at Turns Four and Five before. The car was then damaged too, so it was impossible to really recover. We then pitted just before the Safety Car, which was also unlucky.

“It gave us hope that we could perhaps close up on the cars ahead, but there was just too much ground to make up. Esteban [Ocon] and Mick [Schumacher] also made contact with me, which did not help. I enjoyed a good battle with Robert [Kubica] towards the end and we did all we could today. I also want to say congratulations to Daniel [Ricciardo] for winning the race today.”

Credit: Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team