Lance Stroll kept his good tires for the end of the qualifying session for the Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix on Saturday, taking sixth place on the starting grid.
Wet conditions in Melbourne forced the teams to make tough tire choices. With the track improving rapidly, a few riders were tricked, as the tires took longer to warm up than usual.
“It was hard to figure out when the tires were going to perform best because of the changing temperature, and we only had one set of tires available for Q3, so we still had a bit of time. That being said, the field is very tight and we are in a good position to fight for the top positions tomorrow. [dimanche]“, explained the Quebecer on the website of the Aston Martin team.
Stroll stayed in the top 10 for all three sessions of the day, posting a best time of 1:17.308 thanks to his good tires. His teammate, Fernando Alonso, did a little better with a time of 1:17.139. The Spaniard will start fourth.
“It was fun today. It’s a good track where you can push further and the car reacted well, said the Montrealer. I believe the team had a good performance qualifying fourth and sixth despite the rather difficult circumstances.”
After being forced to retire in Saudi Arabia two weeks ago, Stroll will try to bounce back in the third round of the season. If all goes well, he could emulate his performance from the first Grand Prix, in Bahrain, where he finished sixth.