Lance Stroll praised after “negative questions” but “concern” remains

Lance Stroll has been praised for his start to the F1 2025 season at the difficult Australian Grand Prix.

Six drivers crashed out in the wet conditions in Melbourne for the curtain-raiser to the new season.

But Stroll - often criticised by F1 fans - avoided the fate of his esteemed Aston Martin teammate Fernando Alonso to register a P6 finish.

Stroll enhanced his reputation for driving astutely in wet weather.

“This whole weekend he has been pretty decent,” Sky Sports’ Naomi Schiff noted.

“I don’t know whether it was the winter to re-set his mind.

“It can get so bogged down in negative results, and negative questions from the media.

“It feels like he has come into this weekend a little more fresh.

“He has been on it. A great result to finish the weekend.”

Karun Chandhok said: “Points on the board, let’s see where they can build.

“In terms of pace, the team will be concerned because they are clearly behind Williams and behind Racing Bulls and the other top four.

“When the opportunity presented itself, he got points on the board.”

Stroll reacted to his P6: “It was one of those races… you just had to stay on track and keep it clean.

“We did that. I’m happy to pick up six.

“Confidence was a big word, out there today. I never had a lot of confidence.

“The conditions were tricky. There was one dry line, then everything else was wet. On the inters it was tricky.”

'Uncharacteristic' Fernando Alonso error at F1 Australian Grand Prix

Alonso span and crashed into a wall on Lap 34 of the F1 Australian Grand Prix.

“It was a little aggressive with the kerb,” Schiff assessed.

“I think he clipped the kerb too much, and he put the tyres on the slippery white lines, and made a mistake which we saw many drivers make.

“It was very uncharacteristic of Fernando.”

Chandhok added: “It was one of those days. I’m trying to remember the last time Alonso crashed… and I can’t remember…”

Aston Martin entered the first grand prix of 2025 amid fear about their pace.

Some experts predicted they could find themselves as the second-slowest car on the grid.

The rain and the six crashes resulted in chaos in Australia which gave Stroll a chance to capitalise, which he duly took.

He finished above both Ferraris, whose tyre strategy in the wet failed them, and Oscar Piastri who spun from second to 13th and recovered to P9.

The son of Aston Martin’s billionaire owner Lawrence Stroll is much-maligned when things go wrong for him, but in Australia he kickstarted a potentially tricky time for his team with a solid points finish.