It was another home race to remember for Lance Stroll as he finished ninth at the Canadian Grand Prix.
The Montreal native continued to struggle in qualifying, crashing out in Q1 for the 11th straight race in the Racing Point.
But, just as he did for his first Formula 1 points two years ago, Stroll would come back through the field to score two points.
“It really brings back some good memories,” the 20-year-old said post-race. “It was a very similar story today.
“We started 17th, just like back in 2017, picked them off one by one and finished P9.
“It was a well-fought race. We nailed the strategy – starting on the hard tyre, going long, that was the key to our race today,” he added.
“We managed it perfectly. I was able to take that tyre really, really long into the race and make some bold moves out there, which was also key to our race.”
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Stroll admits he had growing confidence during the race that a strong result was possible, particularly after an early move in front of his own named grandstand.
“I went down the inside of [Sergio] Perez into the hairpin in front of my home fans – I felt the energy out there and I thought, ‘Right, I’m just going to send it down the inside’,” he explained.
“I did it, pulled it off and then made it stick around the outside of Sainz in the chicane with a couple of laps to go to grab that extra point.
“It makes it that much sweeter that we really had to work for it today.”
Interestingly, speaking to Sky Sports, Lance didn’t agree that his performance equated to his best in F1.
“There were some good ones last year but no one saw them from where we were in the Williams,” he claimed.
“Every race is unique in its own way, but this one is definitely up there with some of my best.”
