Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll Relieved Off Track Exploits Didn’t End Monaco GP

Lance Stroll endured quite a bit of a rollercoaster race at the Monaco Grand Prix. The Canadian driver was spotted bouncing heavily on the kerbs. And many fans were fuming when TV cameras cut away from race action to show replays of Stroll at the exit of the Swimming Pool, and too twice. However, that is a completely different story, though people are still mad about it.

To make matters worse for the Canadian, the second kerb hop ended in him clipping the inside barrier. The last person to do that was an unlucky Charles Leclerc in qualifying, where it wrecked his suspension. The Aston Martin driver definitely dodged a bullet and lived to fight on in the race.

With the help of an unusual strategy, namely a long opening stint on the hard tire, he bagged eighth place. To make matters even sweeter for Aston Martin, teammate Sebastian Vettel notched up a season-best fifth place.

“It rattled my brain a little bit!” Stroll said. “I was a bit surprised. I thought my day was kind of done actually, after the second one. The first one I kind of managed to save it, but second one, I had a big thump on the inside. And normally when you got a big thump on the inside, we all know how it ends, so I was pretty happy.

“I used up my jokers there.”

What else did Lance Stroll say?

The 22-year-old confessed that he had a few reservations about starting on the hard tires. This would have meant that he lost some ground while he got his tires up to temperature. Luckily, he was able to get a good launch off the line, and he kept pace with the soft tire runners.

“So, all in all, it wasn’t as bad as I expected it to be or as difficult as I expected it to be at the beginning.”

Of course, since this was Monaco, he and Aston Martin were praying for a safety car. Fortunately, Lance Stroll was able to pull off an overcut on the likes of Esteban Ocon and Antonio Giovinazzi. Of course, he did sweat a little bit when he was under investigation for crossing the line at the pit exit.

READ MORE: WATCH: Vettel Overjoyed On Team Radio After First Points for Aston Martin F1