Lance Stroll's Q1 exits need perspective - Racing Point
By: Phillip Horton
PHortonF1
Lance Stroll's lack of results on a Saturday in Formula 1 need to be put into perspective, according to Racing Point's technical chief Andrew Green.
Stroll joined Racing Point for 2019 and has yet to out-qualify team-mate Sergio Perez, while he has not escaped Q1 across the past 13 grands prix, stretching back to his final 2018 events with Williams.
Green, though, believes the difference in experience levels between Racing Point's drivers needs to be taken into account, and has no doubt Stroll will improve.
"There's no denying his Saturday afternoon performance, he'd say the same, he struggles on a Saturday afternoon but we have to put it in perspective," said Green of Stroll.
"He's in a very early part of his career and he's up against a very mature, experienced driver on the other side of the garage and he's learning a lot.
"In each race and in each session we give him targets and what to look for and how to improve and it's small margins every time – but he understands it.
"He's an incredibly talented driver. We've seen that numerous times – and it's a case of just getting the experience.
"And once he gets the experience and gets the confidence, we'll see him close the gap to Checo and potentially take a leap ahead of him.
"So, we've got every confidence he can do it – it just takes a bit of time."
Racing Point has regressed in recent grands prix, with Stroll's ninth in Canada its sole top 10 finish across the past five events, leaving the team seventh in the standings.
"It only takes very small margins to move you from one end of the field to the other," stressed Green.
"The car has got some balance issues that we started the season with and really I think that's a bit of a legacy of where we finished off last year and where we were as a company, position-wise.
"We've got a lot of changes coming ahead in the next few races and beyond, after the [summer] break as well.
"The team's future is incredibly bright. We're looking a long way forward with the team now, that we've never been able to do before, and so the fact that we're in a bit of a tight scrap at the moment is not distracting now from things that we're looking at much further down the road."