Lance Stroll: F1 still "miles off" from proper cars

Lance Stroll, Aston Martin Racing

Stroll said it was particularly confronting to watch footage of old F1 cars going around the Monaco street circuit at last weekend's Historic Grand Prix of Monaco: "We had time off in the break. I was randomly watching old races and stuff. I even had the Monaco Historics on the TV and I heard some Ferrari cars from the early 2000s and how good they sounded and how small and nimble. There were some onboards I saw from the early or even mid-2000s in the V8 era, V10 era.

"And then what it looks like versus now. You hear what it's like now and the character of the cars and how much more intense it looked and how much more exciting it looked back then compared to now. It's sad but hopefully we're heading back in that direction."

Alpine driver Pierre Gasly said the rule refinements will make a meaningful difference to help restore qualifying to its former glory, as senior team engineers expect the need to lift-and-coast over one lap to be all but gone from now on.

"It's going in the right direction for the stuff that we are asking," Gasly said. "I don't think it's a game changer. But it's going in the right direction and it's good to give it a try and then actually see what it brings and see if there is any necessity to take further steps. But I think it should be good."

Gasly was appreciative of the FIA and F1 chiefs taking driver feedback into account to help define the next steps: "Overall, it's the best communications we've had for a while. I think it's been very constructive. I think us as drivers have appreciated the fact that we've been involved because we are the ones behind the wheel. We are the ones feeling what's going on in all sorts of situations. So, the feedback we can give is way more precise than any other one in the organisation. I think they've definitely validated it.

"As much as we would like to make the rules, there are also big entities behind the sport and manufacturers that are also pushing for what they want to have and what they need to be in the sport. We've got to please everybody.

"But at the end of the day, I think safety has definitely got to come first when it comes to what we do. I think everybody is pretty happy with the change we've made."

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