United States GP a ‘critical race’ for Aston Martin

Lance Stroll says the United States Grand Prix is a “critical race” for Aston Martin and that they’ll push to the limit. 

With just six rounds to go, the British team are down in P7 in the Constructors’ Championship, 31 points behind AlphaTauri.

Finishing there would be a huge disappointment for Lance Stroll and co given they often had the third-fastest car on the grid in 2020 when they were known as Racing Point and took P4 in the standings.

The Canadian admits that it’s critical that they score points at the next race at the Circuit of the Americas.

“I love racing in Austin, and it’s great to be able to spend some time at home in Canada to recharge ahead of the Grand Prix,” he said in the team’s preview for the race.

“It’s a critical race for the team, and we’ll be giving it everything in pursuit of more points.

“It’s a challenging track with the first sector having a flow element in contrast with the final sector which demands precision, making it quite easy to run wide. We’ll be pushing the limit to find the limit in the build-up to Sunday.”

The story continues in Austin. 💚 pic.twitter.com/KIDYrciVxO

— Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team (@AstonMartinF1) October 19, 2021

While Aston Martin may be bottom of the midfield pack in the standings, that hasn’t always been the case in terms of outright pace.

Indeed, Sebastian Vettel believes that he has a fast enough car to take the fight to his midfield rivals, but says getting the setup right is the key, especially in Austin.

“We’re looking to bounce back in Austin,” said the German.

“As we’ve seen in recent races, we have the pace to fight in the midfield, but it’s such a close fight, and it’s very easy to miss out on points.

“This circuit really tests the set-up of the car, so the key is to maximise practice and build on it going into qualifying and the race.”

The quality of the machinery wasn’t the only thing to change when Racing Point became Aston Martin, with the colours going from pink to green.

While they won’t change significantly again in 2022, Otmar Szafnauer has confirmed that discussions are taking place about switching to a more vibrant shade for the livery.