Lance Stroll claims he is in need of a ‘reset’ ahead of the Australian Grand Prix following his high speed impact in Saudi Arabia last weekend.
Having slightly clipped a barrier at high speed, the Canadian then sustained a heavy shunt on lap six of the race in Jeddah after clipping the wall at turn 22.
The subsequent spin sent him spearing into the barriers at high-speed, ending his hopes of matching team-mate Fernando Alonso in landing handy constructors' points for Aston Martin having opened the campaign with a 10th place finish in Bahrain behind the two-time world champion.
After being tagged in Bahrain by Nico Hulkenberg too, it must feel like nothing is going right for Stroll, who has shown glimpses of pace in the AMR24.
Speaking to the Formula 1 website after the race, Stroll confirmed that he needs to ‘reset and go to Australia.’
“A disappointing way to conclude a good weekend,” Stroll said. “I’d been pushing really hard in those opening laps – the cars around us were definitely faster and the tyres were already struggling.
“I was trying to build a gap and just clipped the wall. There are positives to take away, the team has scored points in both races and we feel there’s more pace to unlock in the car.
“I’m already looking ahead to Australia – it’s a race and a country that I really enjoy and I’m sure we can pick up the momentum again.”
Fernando Alonso has taken the majority of the team’s points in the first two races, but Aston Martin will need Stroll to step up if they are to compete for a top four spot again this season.
The critics who are against the Canadian’s Formula 1 tenure will only get louder as he continues to make more mistakes into his eighth season in the sport.