Aston Martin driver Lance Stoll drove a superb race at the Qatar GP finishing in front of both  Ferrari drivers Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc. The Candian managed to move up six places off the starting grid from the twelfth position to sixth. The opening lap proved to be a key factor to Stroll’s success on the Losail track. However, it was his tyre management and overtaking skills that ultimately helped him secure his solid sixth-place result. After what appeared to be an effortless climb up the grid Stroll stated that he knew that the car had a competitive race pace.       

“The car felt very good today and I am very happy with our performance. I made up a couple of places on lap one and over the first stint it was clear that we had pace to perform well,” stated Stroll.

“I overtook [Yuki] Tsunoda on the Mediums and then, after catching the guys ahead, undercut [Carlos] Sainz to move into sixth after stopping for the Hards.”

With the combination of the car’s performance and excellent strategy calls, Stroll credits the Aston Martin team for their diligent work that paid off.

“Overall, everything went perfectly for us today and scoring eight points at the end of this triple-header is a very satisfying reward for all our hard work.”

Otmar Szafnauer, Team Principal & CEO at Aston Martin praised Stroll for his superb drive on challenging Losail track and expressed his contentment scoring double- points since the French GP earlier this season.     

“That was a complex race from a technical point of view, and I want to pay tribute to two brilliant drives, particularly by Lance, who managed tyre wear and pressure from the Ferraris superbly to finish sixth under intense racing throughout all 57 laps. He was the star of our race today,” stated Szafnauer.

“Our tyre group and strategy team combined to do a fantastic job throughout, both here in Qatar and at Mission Control at the factory, and it is a great feeling for all of us to record our first double points finish since Paul Ricard in June.”