Racing Point are working to restore Lance Stroll to his pre-Mugello form after taking a “battering” in recent months.
The Canadian was driving well earlier in the year, finishing fourth twice and returning to the podium for the second time in Formula 1 at Monza.
After crashing out at Mugello due to a tyre failure, however, Stroll also tested positive for Covid-19 following his withdrawal from the Nurburgring Grand Prix, and has failed to score a point in any of the past five races.
“Obviously he’s not where he was, for sure, from Monza to where he is now,” said Racing Point technical director Andrew Green via MotorsportWeek.
“There’s a lack of confidence which we’ll have to work on over the next week or so trying to get him back again.
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“I think the illness did knock it out of him – that’s something we hadn’t really foreseen,” he added. “We had heard about the length of time it can take to recover from the illness and I think it’s taking some time.
“He just needs to get his confidence back again, believe in himself again, and we’ll get the Lance back that we had for the first two-thirds of the season.
“He’s obviously taken quite a battering physically and mentally. It was quite a big accident in Mugello, so I think that probably dented his confidence, and then not being fit for a couple of races.”
Stroll though has been involved in several incidents in recent races, including collisions with Max Verstappen and Lando Norris at Portimao, as well as running over his front jack man during a pit-stop at Imola.
But while he is struggling for performance, Racing Point also thinks it is being exaggerated by the tight midfield fight.
“It’s really fine margins here and if you’re not on top of the car, and understanding where the tyres are and getting them in the sweet spot, you can be made to look like an idiot,” said Green.
“We just need to get him back on track. We can do that, we’ve got the tools, we’ve got the people.
“Half of it is probably that he just needs an arm around him, a bit of a hug, and say ‘come on, let’s pull yourself together now and get on with this over the last few races’ and try to get back to third in the Championship.
“He’s more than capable of doing it, it’s just a bit tough on him at the moment.”
