Fernando Alonso has expressed a hope that Aston Martin team-mate Lance Stroll will be given a competitive car in Formula 1 to “change the opinion of many people”.
Aston Martin has endured a nightmare spell since the summer break as more misfiring developments have seen the AMR24 regress to being among the slowest cars.
But while Alonso has still managed to log 12 points during that period, Stroll hasn’t added to his total since July and has dropped to 13th in the Drivers’ Championship.
Stroll was scrutinised again in Brazil as a bizarre incident on the formation lap saw him end up beached in the gravel as he attempted to recover from a spin at Turn 4.
The Canadian’s blunder incited mass criticism as ex-Haas boss Guenther Steiner argued Stroll wouldn’t be driving in F1 without his father, Lawrence, owning the team.
However, Alonso believes the condemnation has been unwarranted as he declared that Stroll has been unfortunate to be riddled with uncompetitive cars in his career.
“I think the public eye will be always harder than what they should be,” Alonso told media including Motorsport Week in Las Vegas. “This is the world we are living [in].
“He was winning every single category before joining Formula 1.
“He had some good performances in Formula 1 and some bad performances in Formula 1, as everyone does.
“The unlucky thing for him is that he raced with uncompetitive cars for 90% of his career, which I think is brutal for any driver.
“We saw many examples in the past that if you don’t have a competitive car, you have a very short stay in Formula 1.
“An example is our reserve driver here, Stoffel [Vandoorne]. A very talented driver winning Formula 3, winning Formula 2, winning everything in karting.
“Then you get an uncompetitive car and after two years maybe you don’t race in Formula 1 anymore.
“Lance had uncompetitive cars for many years and he is still happy to keep committing and dreaming of having a competitive car one day.
“This is some of the mission that we all have in Aston Martin as well, to have a competitive car. I don’t know if I will benefit from that, because as I said I will not drive forever.
“But I hope he can have one day a competitive car and change the opinion of many, many people.”
Alonso commends Stroll relationship
Alonso commended the open and unique relationship that he shares with Stroll, who he has again tipped to head the team once he retires in its strive to reach the top.
“I think Lance is very open always as I am with him,” Alonso added.
“I am in the final part of my career and I try to help him as much as I can because he will be leading the team very soon.
“I think this relationship was very strong since day one. I know Lance for many, many years. I know Lawrence as well.
“Lance is part of the team as well. His loyalty and his way of working with the team is maybe a little bit different than any other team-mate that I had in the past.
“They could go somewhere else in the following year or they were a little bit more reluctant to share things or to work together into the future.
“While Lance is part of the Aston Martin family, so this makes things easier for everyone.”
