Aston Martin plea after blunt eight-word Lance Stroll interview

Mike Krack has urged the media to go easy on Aston Martin’s drivers after Lance Stroll’s eight-word interview in the wake of qualifying at the Chinese Grand Prix.

Aston Martin’s difficult start to the season continued in Shanghai where Stroll and Fernando Alonso found themselves towards the back of the timesheets.

Mike Krack defends Lance Stroll interview reaction

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Although both teammates completed the 19-lap Sprint race, they were last bar Sergio Perez at the chequered flag, and it was more of the same a few hours later in qualifying for the grand prix.

Alonso was P19, ahead of Valtteri Bottas, while Stroll was only faster than the second Cadillac of Perez.

Climbing out of his AMR26, the Canadian immediately headed to the media pen where he was quizzed on his session.

Asked if Aston Martin had made any progress since Australia: “No.”

Did he feel better for having completed more laps in Shanghai? “No.”

Did he expect to make progress in the grand prix? “No.”

Are there any positives? “Right now, not much, no.”

Having lined up at the back of the field on Sunday, Stroll’s race came to a premature end due to a suspected battery issue.

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The 27-year-old wasn’t any more forthcoming in that brief interview. It wasn’t the first time, likely also not the last, that Stroll raised eyebrows with his curt responses to media questions.

However, Aston Martin‘s chief trackside officer Krack has called for a bit of understanding given the difficult situation that Aston Martin finds itself in.

“For the drivers it’s the hardest,” Krack told the media in Shanghai.

“I said this already before, and I will repeat myself, and I also hope that it’s also kind of over a request to you guys.

“Yeah, the drivers, there’s nothing they can do. Yeah, the drivers are super exposed. And they get the questions. They get the controversial questions.

“I heard yesterday, complaints that Lance was not really giving many answers.

“We need to understand this situation. It is a sporting competition, it is emotional, we are all doing this because of the emotion and we do not want to be fighting at the back.

“They’re putting so much energy into this. They often get questions that are sometimes not appropriate. Now, you can say they are professional athletes, but they also human beings.

“So help us, please. It’s tough at the moment, but I think if we manage to take a little bit of consideration for the drivers in this, I think it will help all of us with our product.”

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