Lance Stroll managed an unwanted Formula 1 record as he became the first driver to register 100 Q1 eliminations since the three-part qualifying system was introduced in 2006.
The Canadian qualified last for Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix, ending the session just under a tenth down on team-mate Fernando Alonso – although Alonso was unable to produce a final run at the close of the session.
This continues a weekend where Aston Martin, despite having been boosted in Zandvoort by the arrival of an updated Honda powertrain and additional upgrades to augment its Hungary overhaul, was exposed by its overall lack of power.
The AMR26 was consistently 20km/h down on the Mercedes cars, contributing to much of the 2.6s deficit to Pierre Gasly’s Alpine around the lap during Q1.
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Stroll, however, was as curt as ever in his responses as he was wholly unsurprised by Aston Martin’s lack of pace. His enthusiasm, or lack thereof, did not perk up at the prospect of Sunday’s race either – suggesting that the two green cars would be miles off throughout.
“It was what we expected [with the] engine,” he said. “We’re three seconds off, so we’re not going to stay with the pack tomorrow.”
Lance Stroll, Aston Martin Racing
Photo by: Simon Galloway / LAT Images via Getty Images
Stroll secured his first Q1 elimination in his first F1 race, driving for Williams at the 2017 Australian Grand Prix, and was nine-tenths shy of Marcus Ericsson – who was the final driver to secure progression to Q2 on that weekend.
He rebounded with a Q3 appearance in the following weekend at Shanghai, although contact with Sergio Perez put an end to his race on the opening lap. However, Stroll claimed his maiden F1 points at his home race in Montreal, following that up with a podium finish at a wild Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
At the other end of the spectrum, Stroll has secured a pole position during his career at 2020 Turkish Grand Prix, coming alive with Racing Point’s potent RP20 chassis and his own strengths on damp circuits. He did not record a single drop in Q1 during that year.
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However, most of his recent seasons have been spent fighting against the drop zone in the first part of qualifying as Aston Martin’s fortunes have dwindled, and his record augmented by Williams’ difficult 2018 in which he dropped out in Q1 on 15 occasions. He has not escaped Q1 at all this season.
Stroll’s Q1 stats
Year
Times out in Q1
2017
12
2018
15
2019
14
2020
0
2021
7
2022
12
2023
7
2024
5
2025
15
2026
13
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