Stroll's Struggles Highlighted at Italian GP

(GMM) Lance Stroll’s (pictured) difficult season hit another low point at Monza, where the Canadian was once again overshadowed by teammate Fernando Alonso and left Aston Martin scrambling to explain his demeanor.

Stroll, 26, has a 0-28 consecutively negative qualifying record against Alonso and finished only P18 in Sunday’s Italian GP. In the post-race media pen, he gave astonishingly curt answers.

Asked if P18 was the best result possible, Stroll replied: “Yep.”

How did the car feel? “It was ok.”

Even when pressed about being pushed off track by Esteban Ocon – who received a penalty and a penalty point on his license, Stroll declined to elaborate.

“Not much,” he said when asked what he thought about it. “I have nothing to say about it.”

Aston Martin trackside boss Mike Krack defended his driver, attributing the mood to frustration rather than apathy.

“In these kinds of situations, where you have a race with virtually no relegation and you start from the back, you just have to hope for opportunities,” Krack said.

“We always anticipate safety cars after our pitstops. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. It’s normal to feel a certain amount of frustration then. You’re pushing yourself to the limit, but fighting for nothing.”

Stroll had headed into the Italian GP denying that he recently asked his father and team owner Lawrence Stroll for permission to quit motor racing.