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Stroll: No point dwelling on retirements hat-trick
Lance Stroll says he cannot afford to let himself dwell on his hat-trick of Formula 1 retirements so far in 2017, which have left him as the driver with the fewest completed racing laps this season.
Jonathan Noble
Edited: Apr 18, 2017, 2:56 PM
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Brake failure in the Australian Grand Prix and crashes in China and Bahrain mean the Canadian driver has completed just 52 racing laps this year – four fewer than Pascal Wehrlein, who missed the first two grands prix.
With Williams eager for Stroll to start finishing in the points so it can boost its constructors' championship hopes, the youngster knows he needs to turn things around.
But rather than be angry about the incidents that have cost him, Stroll thinks it vital he forgets what has happened – so he can concentrate on doing a better job next time out.
"It is frustrating, but I don't have a choice - I have to get over it," explained Stroll during testing in Bahrain on Tuesday. "There is nothing I can do. We just have to stay focused and the tables will turn.
"[F1] is 90 percent mental. And if you are not mentally able to get over things, then you are in the wrong sport. It would be pretty ridiculous if I would be giving up right now after three races in F1…."
Stroll says his approach is to look at the positives of his season so far, which includes getting through to Q3 in China, rather than worry about things that have gone wrong.
"It has just been unlucky," he said of his year so far. "Brake failure in Australia, there was nothing I could do about that. China was just one of those things that happens in racing and Bahrain was very unlucky. It is as simple as that.
"But we cannot dwell on that – we cannot look at it in a negative way. We need to look on the bright side.
"There have been a lot of positives to take out of the first couple of races and there have been things to improve on, and we know we are improving every race.
"We need to keep going. It is still a really long season ahead: we haven't got to Europe yet which will be a lot easier for myself as it is tracks I've raced on in the past.
"But I am focused race by race, frustrated by what happened on Sunday but I cannot dwell on it, I need to get over it and move on."
Sainz penalty
Stroll said he took little satisfaction from Carlos Sainz being given a grid penalty for causing their collision on Sunday – and says such mistakes are part and parcel of racing.
"For sure if I was in Carlos' position, I would be frustrated with myself - but racing people make mistakes," he said.
"I have made mistakes and he made a mistake. But I will make mistakes in the future and so will he. That is the way it works.
"It is part of the game, but I knew as soon as I saw the video that what happened was just one of those things."
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