Lance Stroll refuses to blame Mercedes and Toto Wolff for Aston Martin’s slow start

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Lance Stroll has refused to blame his Mercedes power-unit for Aston Martin’s lack of pace so far this season. Instead, he has pushed his team to focus on the chassis to beat their rivals through the corners.

Mercedes cars such as Aston Martin, Williams and McLaren have all struggled for pace compared to their Ferrari rivals over the first three races. Not one customer Mercedes driver made it inside the top 10 in Bahrain with just one in Saudi Arabia as Lando Norris battled his McLaren to seventh.

In complete contrast, Ferrari powered squads such as Alfa Romeo and Haas have blossomed since the start of the campaign. Mclaren made a minor resurgence in Australia but Alfa Romeo were still ahead of Williams and Aston Martin throughout the weekend.

When asked by Express Sport whether he put any responsibility on to Mercedes for their lack of pace, Stroll claimed the team needed to focus on other areas first.

He said: “I think there are a lot of areas we have got to improve on.

“But I think right now as a team we really have to focus on the chassis side of things. We need to be quicker in the corners so that’s the focus.”

Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack raised concerns over the Mercedes power-unit early on in the season. When asked about the pattern of Mercedes powered cars struggling to challenge for points, Krack said: It’s something we had already seen quite early on.

“But, on the other hand, we see the Mercedes works team finishing third and fourth, so you can still get the job done. I think the competition may have taken a bigger step than us, and that’s something we need to catch up.”

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Aston Martin has recently described the Mercedes power unit as “good” but suggested they would be open to working with other providers. Their comments came amid rumours Audi and Porsche could be set to enter the sport from 2026.

A spokesperson said: ​​”We are happy with our current power unit partner Mercedes-Benz, to whom we are contracted for some years yet. Mercedes-Benz’s F1 power unit is a good one.

“We have no alternative plans at this time – however you should never say never in F1 and we are actively exploring options with our new strategic partner Aramco.”

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