Lance Stroll is not having a good Formula 1 season at Aston Martin. He is sitting 10th in the championship, while his teammate Fernando Alonso only just lost 3rd place to Lewis Hamilton. After the Formula 1 summer break, his form has nosedived. He has failed to reach Q2 in all but one race, and things didn’t improve at the Qatar GP. After another disappointing Qualifying session, he pushed his personal trainer. While Mike Crack is trying to downplay the incident, the FIA is now looking into it.
FIA Statement
The FIA tries to uphold the spirit of sportsmanship in Formula 1. However, what Lance Stroll did at the Qatar GP falls foul of their code of conduct. Therefore, shortly after the Qatar GP weekend, an FIA spokesperson said that they have opened communication with Lance Stroll.
The statement read, “The FIA Compliance Officer is in discussion with Lance Stroll, in relation to several incidents that may have contravened FIA rules, policies, and procedures during the Qatar Grand Prix.”
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The Incident
The Qatar GP was the 4th race in a row where Lance Stroll failed to reach Q2. However, what followed could only be described as shocking. After Aston Martin wheeled him into the garage, he angrily threw his steering wheel away.
After getting out of the car, Lance Stroll went to the back of the garage. As he was disappearing from view, he seemed to push someone out of the way. With the information present, that someone could only be his Aston Martin trainer, Henry Howe. Stroll confirmed this later as well.
Mike Crack calls for more ‘respect’
Aston Martin Team Principal Mike Crack spoke up about this incident at the Qatar GP. He said that Formula 1 drivers deserve more respect for showing their emotions.
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He said, “I’m sure we run 10-20 times less adrenaline on the pitwall than the drivers do, but you put the microphone straight away in front of them, or you gauge every reaction that they do.”
“Emotions is what we want from sportsmen and then if they react, we judge them quickly – ‘is this right, is this wrong?’ – we need to be careful with that.”