Lance Stroll’s life in Formula 1 is not easy, with results generally falling short of expectations – including personal ones – this season. So much so that at the Qatar GP in early October, frustration turned into anger after being eliminated in Q1 and even pushed his coach, Henry Howe – which earned him a formal warning.
Jenson Button commented to Sky Sports F1 that the Canadian driver has had three main areas of problems, including bad luck, but particularly criticized his behavior in Losail:
– Definitely in some things he was unlucky, this is another unlucky situation he finds himself in [technical problems in FP1 of the United States Grand Prix]. There are three things. One, maybe the performance is just not there. Second, bad luck. But for me, the big issue is the off-track antics, which I have a little problem with. So, I think as a driver you get stressed in some situations, but you need to control that, you need to have more respect within a team, the people you work with, and I think he lost that a little in Qatar. Hopefully, he understands that and corrects it.’
Asked if what Stroll did is comparable to the frustration shown by football players, Button denied and reinforced his criticism: ‘Not when there is a human being, no. And Mike Krack [Aston Martin team principal] also said that drivers need more respect. I understand this in a way, the stress they have and the cameras are always on a driver, but I think respect is more necessary for the other people working with the team. I hope he understood that. I know it’s tough, there’s a lot of pressure on top. Sometimes you can be forgiven for how you act, but other times it’s not right. This is a growing sport and we can’t act that way. But I’m sure he understands that and sees it now, and we can move forward’.
