Lance Stroll has credited SportPesa Racing Point for their efforts to get his car ready for qualifying at the Canadian Grand Prix.
The home town racer saw his RP19, powered by the new Spec 2 Mercedes engine, suffer a huge failure during Free Practice 3.
Official word over team radio was that a ‘hydraulic leak’ was to blame, but considering the flames that were visible at the back of Stroll’s car, questions were asked over how severe the issue may be.
Lance Stroll's FP3 goes up in flames ?#CanadianGP ?? #F1 pic.twitter.com/TsiAgIjdE6
— Formula 1 (@F1) June 8, 2019
The old power unit was put back into Stroll’s challenger for qualifying, and even though he was knocked out in Q1 for the eleventh time in a row, alongside team-mate Sergio Perez, he was proud of the team’s efforts.
“It was a great job to get me back out [after his car went up in smoke in FP3], so really unfortunate that both cars are knocked out in Q1,” Stroll said via Sky Sports F1.
“It didn’t look like that was going to be the case, with where we have been so far over the weekend, so yeah…a big thanks to the team.
“All things considered I think it’s a good recovery after missing FP3 and then putting the old spec engine in to lose a couple of tenths of performance there. It was a good recovery.”
Asked whether their midfield rivals simply had more pace to burn in qualifying, Stroll added: “Perhaps. We have to look into it. I don’t know what happened to Sergio…from my side, it is tough to tell. I didn’t do FP3 so I don’t know how the car was behaving then.
“But still surprising to see both cars out [of Q1].”
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