Lance Stroll told to apologise over ‘sh*t’ Aston Martin F1 car criticism

Lance Stroll's criticism of the AMR25 as "the worst piece of sh*t" reflects frustration but could strengthen Aston Martin's resolve. Punters may find value in betting against Stroll, especially if team morale dips, impacting future race performances.

Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll has been told to apologise after he called the AMR25 the “worst piece of sh*t I’ve ever driven in my life” at the British Grand Prix.

Stroll raced from 18th on the grid to seventh at the chequered flag at the rain-affected British Grand Prix, scoring his first Grand Prix points since round two of the championship in China.

Inspired strategy calls from Aston Martin in the changeable conditions saw Stroll running up in third place before he was overtaken by Nico Hulkenberg and then Lewis Hamilton as the track began to dry out in the final stint. Stroll dropped to seventh by the end of the 52-lap race, scoring his first Grand Prix points in 10 races.

But at the end of a race run in difficult conditions, the Canadian let rip at his AMR25 when he spoke with his race engineer Gary Gannon during his cooldown lap as he returned to the pits.

Gannon: Chequered flag Lance, chequered flag.

Stroll [inaudible in places]: On this tyre, on the intermediate, I’m losing like seconds a lap.

Gannon: Despite all that Lance, you finished P7. You did amazing with the car you have underneath you. That was a brilliant drive, okay? Really good. You finished P7, Fernando P9, so we’ll take those points. Really good job despite battling all that, really good.

Gannon: Okay Lance, so yeah, crazy car to drive, amazing finish.

Stroll: Crazy is an understatement. I mean, it’s the worst piece of sh*t I’ve ever driven in my life to be honest. But it’s okay. Seventh.

Former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher wasn’t at all impressed with that.

“I have to say, this statement is very disappointing, and quite honestly, it’s a question of manners,” Schumacher told the Sky Deutschland Backstage Pitlane podcast. “You have to imagine the external impact.

“The mechanics who work there day in, day out so that the two can race – and then the boss’s son comes along and says: ‘Wonderful, and with such a crappy car.’

“I have to say, that’s completely unacceptable, that’s an absolute no-go. It’s unspeakable and indicates a poor upbringing. I don’t know what movie hero he thinks he is, but such statements diminish his own results.”

Schumacher added: “Dear Lance, apologise to the team.”

The German believes Stroll and his team-mate Fernando Alonso, having brought in Aston Martin’s first double points haul of the F1 2025 campaign, should be happy with the result.

“We are often criticised for being too harsh with him [Stroll], and perhaps at times this is true,” said the six-time Grand Prix winner. “At Silverstone, we saw that the drivers had to drive the cars in very difficult conditions, and Lance managed that.

“How good or bad he is, it’s hard to say, but his team-mate, Fernando Alonso, despite being of a certain age, still drives excellently.

“In this regard, their entire team deserves high praise, because at Silverstone, both drivers earned the points.”

Aston Martin are eighth in the Constructors’ Championship, tied on 36 points with Racing Bulls and only five points away from sixth-placed Sauber.

Speaking to the media, including PlanetF1.com after the race and once his frustrations had died down, Stroll was much happier about his and Aston Martin’s performance.

“I think the result was good. I think we had a lot of degradation, and couldn’t really fight with that kind of degradation,” he said. “The Sauber had a lot more grip, so this had a much, much faster car.

“I think with the degradation we have, we couldn’t have gotten a better result. Honestly, I was barely able to stay on the track at the end with the soft tyre because it was just completely grained.

“And also the intermediate tyre just losing 20 seconds of race time compared to the Sauber at one point in the race, just huge degradation.

“With that kind of deg it’s going to be hard to fight, but it’s a good result, good strategy calls. So that was good.”

"Dear Lance, apologise to the team."

Planet F1