Lance Stroll had an impressive start to the 2025 season as he finished the F1 Australian GP in P6. He was ahead of both Ferraris, and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri. The Canadian gained a total of seven positions over the course of 57 laps in the rain.
He had qualified P13 on Saturday, putting in a time of a 1:16.483. Despite their struggles on Saturday, it seemed as if the team had made the improvements from practice.
Strategy is important in any race. However the importance is multiplied during a wet race like the Australian GP. It can very easily make or break a driver’s race. Stroll didn’t seem to struggle with his tyres during the 57 laps.
When asked about how he communicated tyre strategy with the team, he simply replied he did what the team asked.
The Aston Martin driver jumped Tsunoda, Hamilton, Gasly and Leclerc through the phase where they stayed out too long on dry tyres. Piastri’s off put him in P6.
“Yeah, it was just the team that called it, so they were looking at the forecast and I think they saw that it started raining already on the other side of the track. They called me in so I had nothing to do with it.”
Focusing on his own race
The race saw a total of six DNFs including his own teammate Alonso who spun off and into the wall on lap 34.
It didn’t come as a surprise to Stroll that he climbed the ranks that fast as the aforementioned drivers stayed out.
“No, I wasn’t because I saw everyone spinning and you know, people stayed out and I thought it would rain on my visor. It was about staying on track and being on the right tyre at the right time.”
When asked about his reaction to his teammate’s crash, he replied that at the time he was busy trying to avoid the same fate.
“Yeah, I was pretty focused on not crashing myself. So that was mostly what we were all trying to do out there.
“It was that balance between pushing and going one second a lap faster, and 90% chance of crashing or going one second slower with 50% chance of crashing. It was a high level of being in the uncomfortable zone in today’s race.
“I think there were very few moments in the race where I was in a comfort zone just cruising around. I think it was always just tippy toeing around.”
Stroll’s plan moving forward
This would be the joint best start to a season Stroll had in his career and while it may be a confidence booster, he is more focused on improving the car over the coming season.
“We have to keep pushing and make the car faster. I think today was one of those races where we got a lot out of it but we didn’t have crazy good pace.”
