Difficult qualifying for Lance in Jeddah

Lance will start the inaugural Saudi Arabian Grand Prix from 18th following a difficult qualifying session in Jeddah.

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In the final practice session of the weekend, Lance evaluated both the Hard and Soft tyre, focusing on long-distance and one-lap performance.

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His run plan was impacted by a slow puncture, although with 10 minutes remaining, the Canadian returned to the circuit to put in his best lap time, a  1:30.030, to end the practice in 15th.

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Starting Q1 on the Soft tyres, Lance slotted into 12th after laying down a benchmark 1:30.247 lap.

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On his second run, he improved on his previous personal best, posting a 1:29.923 before returning to the pits.

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With only six minutes remaining, Lance returned to the track to deliver a 1:29.368 run although traffic prevented him from improving on his position, forcing him out of Q1 as he finished the session in 18th.

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Lance Stroll – Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One™ Team Driver

“I am really disappointed to have ended up in P18 because traffic at the end of the session ruined my qualifying. It was like a parking lot and there was nothing I could do. As a result, I was not able to put in a flying lap when the track and tyres were at their optimum and it proved very costly. I think we would have had enough to make it into Q2 otherwise. We will go away and review to see if there is anything we could have done differently. We have never raced here before, so we will have to see how the Grand Prix plays out tomorrow and try to make up some places.”

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The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix will get underway at 17:30 GMT on Sunday, 5 December.

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