Aston Martin confident Stroll can "take the fight" to Vettel

Aston Martin team principal Otmar Szafnauer sees no reason why Lance Stroll cannot "take the fight" to Sebastian Vettel this season.

After opting to ditch Sergio Perez, Aston Martin has put its faith in four-time champion Vettel to launch the team's new era, but with many wondering if the 33-year-old still has the pace, skill and hunger to succeed after a demoralising end to his time with Ferrari.

Stroll, meanwhile, heads into the new season off the back of his best year in F1 in finishing 11th in the drivers' standings, albeit 50 points adrift of Perez.

Szafnauer believes if Stroll can put together a consistent campaign he could outscore Vettel which, in turn, would benefit the team in its quest to claim third in the constructors' championship.

"He could very well do," said Szafnauer, speaking to Sky Sports. "He definitely has the talent.

"The thing that last year he lacked a bit was consistency, and that was for a bunch of reasons.

"He was on for a podium [at Mugello] when he had a tyre failure, which was not his fault. That takes it out of you a little bit.

"Also, unfortunately, he caught the Covid virus and there can be a bit of a delayed hangover to that too. Not that he had Covid for long, but you're never 100 per cent when you come back a week later from that.

"So consistency is what Lance will be working on this coming season, and he's very well capable of doing that.

"Once he becomes more consistent with those podiums and pole positions and scoring points, for sure, he will take the fight to Sebastian.

"And that's exactly what we want, to have two drivers scoring regularly, and that's what we need for us to finish in the top three."

As Racing Point last year the team endured a rollercoaster season as it was involved in the copying scandal, had both drivers contract Covid-19 and miss races, while Stroll scored his maiden pole and two podiums, and Perez secured his debut win.

Playing on the James Bond/Aston Martin link, asked if the team had 'a licence to thrill' this year, Szafnauer replied: "That's exactly what we've been working on over the winter, hopefully, to thrill again.

"We had some good races last year, from pole positions in the wet for Lance, to the double podium in Bahrain, a last-to-first win for Checo.

"So we had our thrilling moments last year, but this year as Aston Martin, a licence to thrill means we have to do it over and over."

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