Günther Steiner Claims Stroll Lacks Drive Without Dad’s Team

Günther Steiner questions Lance Stroll’s commitment to F1, asserting his career depends on his father’s role at Aston Martin.

If Lawrence Stroll weren’t the owner of Aston Martin F1, Lance Stroll wouldn’t be in F1. Not because he’s a poor driver, but because he doesn’t seem to want, or want anymore, to be an F1 driver.

That’s the opinion of former Haas team principal Günther Steiner following Stroll’s disastrous weekend at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Stroll endured a nightmare outing in Brazil, where an already tough weekend spiraled into a “whatever can go wrong, did” situation on race day.

The Canadian suffered a major crash during Sunday morning’s qualifying session—one of five drivers to make significant contact with the barriers on the wet Interlagos circuit—but managed to line up in 10th after his mechanics worked tirelessly to repair his AMR24.

However, he never made it to the start as he went off track during the formation lap. Stopping on a section of asphalt, he then attempted to rejoin the track, only to drive his AMR24 into a wet gravel trap, where he got stranded with no chance of moving.

Amid the crowd’s jeers, Stroll was forced to retire.

“The pressure got to him,” Steiner observed.

“He knew he’d done something foolish on the formation lap and lost control of what he was doing.”

“I think he panicked. In situations where the whole world is watching, and you’re always being criticized, you do something stupid on the formation lap.”

“So, what do you do next? Something even more foolish. It’s like a brain fart.”

Steiner feels that Stroll simply doesn’t want to be in Formula 1.

When it was suggested that “for a guy who hates his job, he’s quite good at it,” Steiner replied that he doesn’t think Stroll would be in F1 if his father didn’t own Aston Martin.

“He never seems happy, no matter what happens. Would he be world champion if he were happy? I don’t know, as some people can be good even when they’re unhappy.”

“We think he’s unhappy, and maybe that’s just his expression.”

“I think a lot of people criticize him: ‘He’s a very poor driver. He’s there because his dad owns the team.’ But let’s put it this way: if his dad didn’t own a team, I don’t think Lance would be in Formula 1, or still be in Formula 1, because he doesn’t seem like he wants to be here.”