Lawrence Stroll: "Whether I think we can beat Mercedes?"
F1 News
- GPblog.com
With four podiums including one win and a fourth place in the championship, 2020 was an excellent year for Racing Point. With the name change to Aston Martin and the recruitment of Sebastian Vettel, the team hopes to take another step forward in 2021.
Podiums and victories
Sergio Perez gave the team their first victory at the Sakhir Grand Prix. Owner Lawrence Stroll is obviously hoping for more. “I think the first step towards winning next year will be regularly being on the podium, winning a few races - as we saw, we were capable of doing this - then constantly knocking on the door of second”, Stroll told Racefans.net in an interview.
Beat Mercedes?
The next step then would be to fight for the championship. "Do I think we can beat Mercedes?", Stroll asks rhetorically. "Certainly not next year. We are realistic." With the rule changes in 2022, the field could be turned upside down in a big way. "We don’t know what they will mean exactly. The intent is to bring the field closer; will it succeed?”
In any case, there is no shortage of ambitions at Aston Martin and the current top teams seem to have been warned. “If it succeeds, I think we can give anybody – not only Mercedes, [but] it could be Red Bull, could be Ferrari – a run for their money.”