Adrian Newey: Lance Stroll is “much better than people…

Adrian Newey has leapt to the defence of under-fire Aston Martin racer Lance Stroll, claiming the Canadian has a “bad rap” outside of the team.

Stroll has had some high-profile blunders since making his Formula 1 debut in 2017 and has been caught out this weekend at the Monaco Grand Prix – having been forced out of FP1 after pulling into the path of Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari and requiring a gearbox change from the ensuing contact, while receiving a one-place grid drop for good measure.

Having qualified 19th anyway, and with Oliver Bearman picking up a 10-place penalty, Stroll will start in the same position regardless, but it was another example of his struggles – even if the team took full responsibility this time around.

“Our radio call wasn't clear enough, is the is the bottom line,” explained team principal Andy Cowell. “So we need to we need to learn from that.

“Rear wishbone broken, damage to the floor. And so the best option is to change the gearbox, because we set up two gearboxes yesterday ready for that sort of scenario. And the downside is that Lance doesn't get FP1 back. So it's those laps that he's missed.”

The incident played out in front of Newey, who is attending his first race since starting his role as managing technical partner at Aston Martin, a role that incorporates all technical aspects of the team.

Newey has begun work on the 2026 car, finding innovative ways of working within the new regulation framework – with the current driver line-up of Stroll and Fernando Alonso looking set to remain in place next year.

Lance Stroll, Aston Martin Racing (Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images)

Asked about Stroll’s reputation, Newey – likely preferring to avoid upsetting Aston Martin team owner Lawrence Stroll, the man paying him a huge salary and father of Lance – was quick to praise the 26-year-old.

“Lance, I think, has an unfairly bad rap,” Newey told a select group of reporters, including Motorsport.com, in Monaco on Friday.

“When you compare him against team-mates he's been up against – Checo [Sergio Perez], Nico Hulkenberg, Sebastian [Vettel] and now Fernando – then he's been right there.

“Any driver who gets to Formula 1 is clearly very good, but I think Lance is much better than people give him credit for.”

While his new position means Newey may have had to toe the Aston Martin party line when it comes to Stroll, it is clear he is a big fan of two-time world champion Alonso.

“Fernando, he's such a cool character,” added the man whose designs have previously helped Williams, McLaren and Red Bull to F1 glory.

“He's been an enemy for many years, along with Lewis [Hamilton]. I think I've said before that you can only work with so many drivers, but two drivers I always wanted – the brothers from the modern era that I felt I would enjoy working with – were Lewis and Fernando, and I couldn't work with both, so at least I've got one of them.”