Aston Martin Formula 1 Team Principal Mike Krack believes there should be admiration for the manner in which Lance Stroll fought back from his difficulties last season.
A cycling accident which left Stroll with two fractured wrists prevented him from taking part in pre-season testing last year, placing him on the back foot.
The Canadian driver combated a recovery to full fitness when the AMR23 was in its most competitive state at the start of the season and a podium contender.
But back-to-back fifth places in Sao Paulo and Las Vegas showed strong results were achievable once both team and driver recovered from their respective mid-season slumps.
Still, Krack acknowledged Stroll’s effort at the start of 2023 and says it’s up to the team to help him continue his form from the end of last year.
“I think we have to really admire his fighting spirit in that period,” Krack told media including Motorsport Week ahead of the launch of the AMR24 on Monday.
“We had a car that was quite competitive, and despite the injuries that he was having, he delivered some great performances.
“And you could see also as soon as we gave the drivers the car that suits them, I refer mainly to the end of the season, they can bring the performances.
“This was the case with both drivers: when we give them the tools, they deliver the results.”
In order to capitalise on Fernando Alonso’s continued form and Stroll’s uptick in performances, Krack revealed Aston Martin underwent a busy offseason to extract positive results from the AMR24 2024 F1 challenger.
“We have tried to focus on all areas of our predecessor, the AMR23, which had a great season full of positives last year,” he explained. “We have not left any stone unturned.
“We have really tried to look at every area, be it the car, the operation, reliability, to make a step forward in all directions.
“So it has been very intense over the couple of months since we finished the season and we hope we have done enough.
“We are sure that we’ll have a strong contender.”
Aston Martin possessed what was arguably the second-fastest car at the start of last season, but fell behind its immediate rivals in the development race.
The Silverstone-based squad finished fifth in the Constructors’ standings with 280 points having been leapfrogged by Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren.
Whilst Alonso went on a podium run of six rostrum finishes in the first eight races, Stroll was impacted by his injury and trailed 132 points behind his team-mate.
