Stroll: Objectives are a relative game

Lance Stroll isn’t putting a figure on what he wants to achieve this season, whether that be race wins or points, as none of the teams know “where we stand on the grid”.

Stroll was present asAston Martin took the covers off their 2022 car, the AMR22, on Thursday.

Painted in the Aston Martin green, the new car highlighted Formula 1’s regulation changes with its simple front and rear wing while featuring intriguing sidepod design, a clear departure from other teams’ renderings.

This year’s sweeping new technical regulations mean it is an open goal for all the teams to get it right, or get it wrong.

Already last year’s powerhouses Red Bull and Mercedes have conceded there could be a shake-up in the order, but it is one that could benefitStrolland the Aston Martin team.

He says right know no one has any idea what to expect.

Asked by PlanetF1 what he thinks would constitute a great season, he said: “Not necessarily at this stage, objectives are a relative game.

“In 2020 we had a car that could fight for podiums and occasionally a win, we were fighting for pole positions, top five, top three, leading races, Sergio [Perez] did win a race, then last year we were fighting for points-paying positions, eighth, ninth, tenth, 11th.

“So I think it is a relative game.

The#AMR22has arrived.#WeClimbTogetherpic.twitter.com/JR1mP42E7w

— Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team (@AstonMartinF1)February 10, 2022

“You have to focus on getting the most out of the package you have, that’s what we focus on every year.

“We don’t know where we stand on the grid so I don’t think it is sensible to set expectations of where we should try and finish before we have even gone out on the track.

“I think as a team goal we have to be very, you know, united and focus on every little detail that we can improve on this year car because it will be such a big learning curve.

“In the test there will be so much to understand, learn, and try that I think big advantages can be found by optimising these regulations which I think no team really understands very well at this moment.”

Stroll and his team-mateSebastian Vettelwill put the new car through its paces at Silverstone on Friday in a private shakedown.

Friday’s run will mark the very first time that any of the teams have put their 2022 car on track, ahead of pre-season testing.

“The ground effect cars, in the simulator, they seem to be producing a lot of downforce in the high-speed corners and the low-speed corners are more difficult so we’ll see if that’s how it behaves in the test,” said Stroll.