David Coulthard shares sympathy for Stroll after ‘having meltdown’ in paddock

Max Verstappen wins third consecutive Formula One world championship

Lance Stroll’s frustration at his current Formula One woes is understandable, according to David Coulthard. But fellow ex-F1 star Mark Webber insists that doesn’t excuse the Aston Martin driver for shoving his trainer at the Qatar Grand Prix after allowing his anger to get the better of him.

Stroll has endured a troublesome campaign on the F1 circuit this year and his problems only appeared to get worse in Qatar when he crashed out of Q1 on Friday evening.

After returning to the team’s garage in the pit lane, the 24-year-old threw his £20,000 steering wheel onto the nose of his ARM23, scratching the vehicle and risking damage to the wheel.

But that was just the starting point of his anger boiling over as he then shoved his personal trainer Henry Howe out of the way when he was approached by him.

Speaking on Channel 4, Coulthard said: “That is a meltdown which I feel for him. That’s not something I thought I would say very often for Lance but he’s just getting absolutely hammered by Fernando Alonso and he’s had a meltdown.

“His trainer is just trying to do his job, which is get him to the scales.”

Stroll’s team-mate Fernando Alonso, is fourth in the drivers’ championship with 183 points, while Stroll is still languishing on 47.

But when it was put to the Channel 4 pundits that Stroll couldn’t be excused for raising his hands to another member of his team, former Australian F1 driver Webber said: “No, absolutely not. The trainer was doing his best. You’ve got to go to the scale like this is regulation.

“Tricky session, he’s going to have to go through the admin of the sport.

“But ultimately he just lost his cool. And he’s in a tough situation. And I feel for him too. I actually feel for him right now, he’s under the pump.”

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Stroll is the son of Aston Martin team owner Lawrence Stroll but has come under increasing pressure following a disappointing campaign, amid rumours that he will be replaced at the end of the season.

The Canadian-Belgian finished ninth in Sunday’s race but was demoted to 11th after incurring a time penalty, which ensured that he left Qatar without a point to his name.

When questioned about the incident with Howe, Stroll said: “We’re good. He’s a bro. We go through the frustration together. We ride together. So, we’re cool.”

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