One driver looked particularly forlorn after qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix, Sky Sports F1’s Ted Kravitz says.
Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu was the slowest of all at Suzuka, while Logan Sargeant – who didn’t take part in FP2 on Friday following a crash in the opening session – was 19th.
Speaking during Sky’s coverage of the session, Kravitz shared his observations on one of the early casualties.
Kevin Magnussen could only manage 18th for Haas as Pierre Gasly suffered a fourth consecutive Q1 elimination for Alpine at the beginning of the season.
The driver who came closest to making it into the second session was Lance Stroll at Aston Martin, but he’s set to start 16th.
To add to the disappointment of the quintet, all of their teammates made it into Q2.
The deficit was largest of all for Stroll, who saw Fernando Alonso up in second place behind pacesetter Max Verstappen.
Ted Kravitz says Lance Stroll looked dejected after Japanese GP qualifying
Standing in the pitlane, Kravitz watched as Stroll made his way from the Aston Martin garage to parc ferme.
He says that it looked like the Canadian couldn’t understand why he’d underperformed.
He reckons that the disconsolate 25-year-old will need to gain positions early in the race if he’s to adequately recover from the qualifying upset.
“Lance Stroll is walking down the pitlane with his trainer, shoulders dropped, shaking his head and putting his hands up like ‘I don’t know what happened’,” he said.
“I know it was only a matter of a tenth here and there, but it seems like Lance is really at a loss to explain why he wasn’t able to get out, considering there is good pace in that Aston Martin.
“He’ll need one of his trademark good starts tomorrow.”
Lance Stroll under pressure at Aston Martin
Stroll’s father Lawrence may own the team, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s guaranteed a seat for 2025.
Like teammate Alonso, he’s out of contract at the end of the current campaign.
While team principal Mike Krack has spoken of his determination to tie Alonso down, Aston appear in little rush to extend Stroll.
Some may say that’s because a new deal is an inevitability, but Stroll senior seems to be actively exploring the market of potential replacements.
He’s showing an interest in Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz, who will lose his seat to Lewis Hamilton, and there’s even talk that he’ll push for Red Bull designer Adrian Newey in the hope of luring world champion Verstappen.
Former F1 team boss Eddie Jordan could see Stroll losing his drive at the Silverstone outfit, while Damon Hill has talked up the prospect of an all-Spanish line-up of Sainz and Alonso.
Stroll put together a solid weekend last time out in Australia, out-qualifying Alonso and earning more points (eight vs four) after the veteran picked up a 20-second penalty for an incident with George Russell.
But he’s continued to face criticism in the aftermath of that weekend, with journalist Joe Saward arguing that he lacks hunger.
Stroll will have the opportunity to disprove that point on Sunday when he looks to battle his way back up the field.
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