Lance Stroll 'treated unfairly', argues Aston Martin team principal

Mike Krack, team principal at Aston Martin, believes that Lance Stroll is unfairly treated in the media. He argues that Stroll is not given enough praise for facing off against teammate Fernando Alonso.

Stroll receives “very unfair” perception

The last twelve months have been a disappointment for Aston Martin. The AMR24 was largely uncompetitive, especially in the second half of the season.

Having contested for podiums throughout 2023, Mike Krack’s team plummeted down the pecking order this year.

Not for the first time, Aston Martin’s upgrades failed to deliver.

In fact, the team’s Imola upgrade package marked the beginning of their downward spiral in 2024.

Despite this, Aston Martin managed to finish 5th in the standings – the same position as in 2023.

Fernando Alonso scored the majority of their points, contributing 70 points of their 94 point total.

Even with Aston’s relatively uninspiring campaign, there has still been criticism about Stroll’s performance compared to his teammate.

Several metrics, including race and qualifying head-to-heads, points to a large deficit between the two drivers.

Mike Krack’s defence of Lance Stroll

However, this is not the opinion of team principal Mike Krack:

“Is Lance treated unfairly? Yes, big time,” he told Crash.net.

“First of all, if you look at the gap that he has to his teammate, who is one of the best of all time, it’s very small.

“We have someone who is very serious about car development, simulator driving, being fit and being constructive in the meetings…

“When you see Fernando finish ninth in the championship, it’s not amazing. But, it’s Fernando, so everybody says ‘it is the car’.

“Lance did a fantastic result in Mexico, with the slowest car that day, finishing 11th. Nobody talks about it.

“Fernando finished 11th in Monza and it’s the big thing.

“So I think it’s very unfair the way that he’s perceived to the outside world.”

Aston Martin play the waiting game

Fundamentally, it cannot be a surprise that Mike Krack is so fierce in his defence of Lance Stroll.

Even in the 2023 season, when Stroll finished over 100 points behind Alonso, the 52-year-old defended the Canadian’s contributions.

Irrespective of the results on track, it seems Lance Stroll can depend on his team principal’s support.

Considering that Lawrence Stroll owns the team, this is hardly a surprise.

However, this conversation will undoubtedly be revisited in the future. Despite Krack’s comments, the scrutiny on Aston Martin was relatively low this season.

Amidst all the driver market changes and four-way battle at the front, Aston Martin did not generate headlines as they did in 2023.

Because of this, Lance Stroll’s performance was not necessarily a significant talking point. This could change when the 2026 regulations arrive.

During Aston Martin’s strongest spell in 2023, Stroll enjoyed some reasonable results – including P4 at the Australian GP.

With that said, he lacked the consistent results necessary at the sharp end of the field.

Stroll was unable to push Aston Martin up the standings, eventually costing the British outfit 4th place to McLaren.

When Mike Krack’s team fight in the midfield (much like in 2021 and 2022), the expectations are not as high.

Poor performances are generally overlooked, or at the very least not magnified.

However, this is not the case when you’re driving at the front. If Aston Martin become a top team again in 2026, then Lance Stroll’s abilities will again be pushed to the forefront.