Lance Stroll: “The podium was close”

The “Babies Mercedes » have still not won their first podium in 2020. Yet the Racing Point RP20 had the cards in hand after qualifying after demonstrating their point speed on a lap on Saturday.

Si Lance stroll had started his race perfectly by taking second place against Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes), author of a catastrophic action, Sergio Pérez skated a lot in the first meters and lost precious time, impossible to recover during the rest of the event.

Despite an interesting pace in the race, Stroll was unable to contain Max Verstappen (Red Bull) initially then Bottas, who attempted and succeeded in the undercut on the Canadian at the second stop, to hope to aim for the podium.

“It’s a good result, proclaims the former pilot Williams. It was such a complex race and I can't wait to watch it again and learn what we can for future races. We've already done three races and we looked strong in all of them.

I think the podium was close today because we were in a big battle with Bottas and maybe we could have done things differently, but that's easy to say after the race. »

“The rain showers before the start certainly changed the appearance of the race and made things more difficult for everyone,” analyzes Otmar Szafnauer, Team Principal of Racing Point. The track was ready for dry tires almost immediately and I think we stopped at the right time, at the same time as our direct opponents.

Lance was in contention for a podium, but holding off the recovering Mercedes of Bottas proved difficult. The final fourth place for Lance is an excellent result after a mature rider. The 18 points scored consolidate our fourth place in the championship. »

Important points, although still pending, since Racing Point remains under threat of the complaint again filed by Renault at the end of the race, on the legality of the RP20 brake ducts.

Discover the full report and analysis of the Hungarian Grand Prix, produced by our special correspondent in Budapest, in AUTO issue 2270hebdo, available this evening in digital version and this Wednesday on newsstands.