Aston Martin call for Lance Stroll ‘respect’ following trainer clash in Qatar

Mike Krack believes Formula 1 drivers deserve “a bit more respect” when they show emotions after Lance Stroll shoved his trainer after a dismal qualifying in Qatar.

Failing to make it out of Q1 under the lights on Friday night, Stroll threw his steering wheel onto the nose of the car, potentially damaging the expensive piece of equipment and scratching his AMR23.

But it’s what happened next that had pundits and fans shaking their heads.

Lance Stroll’s surly behaviour was criticised by pundits

Walking to the back of the garage to leave, Stroll was approached by his trainer Henry Howe who, it has been suggested, was trying to get his driver to go for the mandatory weigh-in.

But as Stroll stormed past him, the driver clearly angry and frustrated, he shoved Howe out of the way.

Nico Rosberg called his behaviour “poor” while Sky F1 pundit Naomi Schiff said it was“really totally inappropriate”and that drivers “cannot be behaving that way, no matter how disappointing your day has been.”

Stroll went on to give a very curt interview in the drivers’ pen, saying fewer than 10 words in response to the three questions put to him. That also didn’t go down well.

However, Stroll’s team boss Krack believes a bit more sympathy is in order.

“The thing is, you accumulate [when] delivering below your own expectations, and then frustration comes out at one point,” he told the media at the Lusail circuit.

“我(周六)说,你拿一个足球运动员that is taken off the pitch – he doesn’t want to high five to the manager or he throws the jersey or he throws the water bottles, we have seen that quite a lot.

“And to be honest, I always try to delay this as much as possible to just try and get rid of the adrenaline.

“But I’m sure we run maybe 10 to 20 times less adrenaline on the pit wall than the drivers do but you put the microphone straight away in front of them or you gauge every reaction that they do.

“So I think emotions are what we want from sportsmen. If they react we judge them quickly – is this right? Is this wrong? I think we need to be careful with that.

“We want to see it because then we’ll have something to talk about. When it goes one step too far, then people like to sit down on the sofa or in an air conditioning room and say ‘this is too much’ or ‘you cannot do that’.

“I think we need to have a bit more respect for the drivers and high elite sportsmen I would say.”

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FIA reveal ‘discussions’ over Stroll’s antics

The last shove in the paddock that was caught on camera was Max Verstappen on Esteban Ocon at the 2018 Brazilian Grand Prix, which earned the Red Bull driver two days of F1 community service.

Stroll could potentially be facing the same with the FIA announcingthey are in “discussions” with the driverover his Qatar antics.

“The FIA Compliance Officer is in discussion with Lance Stroll,” read a statement from motorsport’s governing body, “in relation to several incidents that may have contravened FIA rules, policies, and procedures during the Qatar Grand Prix.”

Stroll has not scored a single point since July’s Belgian Grand Prix with the Canadian on 47 points to Fernando Alonso’s 183.

David Coulthard says he feels for him, telling Channel 4: “That is a meltdown which I feel for him.

“That’s not something I thought I would say very often for Lance but he’s just getting absolutely hammered by Fernando Alonso and he’s had a meltdown.”

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