Stroll needs 'a hug' to get back on track after 'physical and mental battering'

Racing Point technical director Andrew Green has suggested Lance Stroll has taken a "battering physically and mentally" which has been detrimental to his confidence.

Stroll was off the pace of team-mate Sergio Perez at Imola, whilst an error-strewn weekend in Portugal the preceding week marked a difficult return from a positive Covid-19 test.

While illness forced Stroll out of the Eifel Grand Prix prior to his battle with Covid-19, either side it is now four successive races he has failed to score a point since finishing third in the Italian GP.

A heavy smash following a tyre blowout in the Tuscan GP has been the catalyst for Stroll's downturn, and Green feels the team now needs to support him given the difficulties he has been through and is continuing to endure.

"He has obviously taken quite a battering physically and mentally," said Green. "It was quite a big accident in Mugello so I think that probably dented his confidence, and then not to be fit for a couple of races.

"We thought physically, it would be difficult in the last race for him to jump back in so I think that was true and I think mentally he is not where he was a few races ago.

"I think he needs to get a couple of races under his belt, which he has done now. So with that, we can start to move on and get him back on track again."

With Racing Point in a tight battle for third, with a point covering it, Renault and McLaren, Green has insisted it is imperative Stroll quickly finds form with just four races remaining.

To do so, he feels the 22-year-old may need some mollycoddling.

"It is really, really fine margins, it is such high margins here and if you are not on top of the car and understanding where the tyres are and getting them in their sweet spot, you can be made to look like an idiot, you really can and it is really fine margins," added Green.

"We just need to get him on track. We have the people, we have the tools. I think half of it is he just needs a bit of an arm around him, a bit of a hug and a 'pull yourself together now'.

"Let's get on with this for the last few races and try and get back to third in the championship. He is more than capable of doing it, it is just tough on him at the moment."

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