Lance Stroll will start from the pit lane for the second race in a row – After the shockingly weak qualifying in Mexico City, Aston Martin is swapping many parts
As he did at the USA Grand Prix in Austin, Lance Stroll will also restart from the pit lane at the 2023 Mexican Grand Prix. Aston Martin has recently made a mistake with an update and is once again replacing numerous components in Stroll’s specification ahead of the race start.
According to the official FIA document, the underbody, parts of the sidepods, the beam wing on the rear wing, the rear anti-roll bar and the front brake pads were all replaced and each received a new specification. The vehicle set-up was also changed.
“All the above parts have been replaced with the approval of the FIA Technical Delegate [Jo Bauer] at the written request of the team concerned in accordance with Article 40.3 of the 2023 Formula One Sporting Regulations,” the FIA communique reads.
“However, as the above parts are different from those originally used and changes have also been made to the suspension (with the approval of the FIA Technical Delegate following a written request), car number 18 must now start from the pit lane in accordance with Article 40.9 of the 2023 Formula One Sporting Regulations.”
Stroll had qualified 17th in a disastrous qualifying session for Aston Martin this season, with teammate Fernando Alonso also missing Q3 in 13th.
Alonso said of the problems: “It seems like we were constantly at the limit with the grip. And we were slow in every session. So it wasn’t a bad qualifying or anything like that. We were struggling all weekend. “
“We all have to work together now to get back to our best level, which we’re obviously not showing.” Aston Martin was second to Red Bull at times in the first half of the season, but has fallen back to midfield of late.
Other pre-race penalties include Yuki Tsunoda’s AlphaTauri, which had new power unit parts and a new gearbox fitted, and Logan Sargeant, who overtook under yellow in qualifying. Both will start from the back row.
