It was a Formula One weekend to forget for Lance Stroll in Monaco. First, the Aston Martin driver retired in 14th place in Q2, which significantly reduced his chances of scoring points on Sunday, before he was also forced to retire early in the race with an accident in the tight second sector on the intermediates.

The retirement was not devastating, as Stroll was not in the points anyway, but throughout the Monaco weekend he was clearly overshadowed by teammate Fernando Alonso, who took his fifth podium of the season with second place.

Krack defends Stroll

“Obviously for Lance it was a difficult race where he went off, then you have to be extremely patient,” team boss Mike Krack takes his driver’s back.

“You have a faster car and you can’t get past, that’s already very difficult and I think he was then also surprised.”

“I think it was in turn six where he then aquaplaned and then of course that’s when things ended quickly. But you have to try, you have to try to push when you have a free run, that’s what I said before the race. And that things like that happen in Monaco, it happens, but it’s not a drama.”

Lance Stroll's Sunday comes to bumpy end at the hairpin 😖#MonacoGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/Lv2wsAGucr

— Formula 1 (@F1) May 29, 2023

Stroll blames brake problems for mistake

In the world championship, Stroll’s next zero means he is now only eighth with 27 points. Team-mate Alonso, on the other hand, was even able to make up ground on P2 in Monaco and is now only twelve points behind Sergio Perez in the Red Bull with 93 points.

“To be honest, it wasn’t a race to remember,” the Canadian summed up. “The first lap was quite eventful – lots of collisions, lots of parts flying around! Those collisions damaged the car quite a bit, but I was still able to overtake some of the cars in front of me.”

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“And I was able to start a few overtaking manoeuvres, which was fun. But even before the rain I was struggling a bit to slow the car down, and then when it started to rain I just couldn’t stop the car because of the brake problems.”

“I think I hit the wall about five times out there, but it just wasn’t my day. Congratulations to Fernando for an excellent result – I’ll be looking to finish in the points next weekend in Barcelona. I’m looking forward to Spain.”

READ MORE: Lap times prove Alonso should’ve won in Monaco