Lance prepared to fight for points in 2021 season finale

Lance will start the final race of the 2021 Formula One season from 13th on the grid after narrowly missing out on Q3 in Abu Dhabi.

‍

In the final practice session of the year, Lance collected long-run data on the Hard compound tyres before focussing on performance running on the Softs to end FP3 in 11th with a 1:24.821 lap.

‍

In qualifying, Lance ran solely on the Soft tyres and put in a 1:24.664 lap time on his first run in Q1 to place seventh.

‍

As the rest of the pack delivered their flying laps, Lance slipped down into 13th and onto the cusp of the elimination zone.

‍

With six minutes remaining, a red flag to remove a bollard from the track sent the field back into the pit lane until the track was deemed to be clear.

‍

Returning to the circuit, Lance was able to maintain his 13th position to progress to Q2.

‍

In the second part of qualifying, he produced a 1:24.076 run to slot into seventh and improved upon his pace in his final dash to the flag, delivering a 1.24.066 lap.

‍

Unfortunately, this fell shy of the top 10, with the Canadian narrowly missing out on Q3 to qualify in 13th.

‍

Lance Stroll – Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One™ Team Driver

I think P13 was around the maximum we could have achieved today. We made some changes to the set-up of the car today and I am happier with the balance, which is positive for tomorrow. We will have a free choice of tyres for the start of the race and plenty of options with strategy, so there are opportunities to move forward in the race. We should be fighting to score points. That would be a nice way to mark my 100th race in Formula One.

‍

The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will get underway at 13:00 GMT on Sunday, December 12.

‍