Sky F1 pundit admits that 25-year-old driver’s performance has been so ‘poor’ this season

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Sky Sports F1 pundit Bernie Collins has admitted that Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll has had a poor season this year.

Collins was speaking on the Beyond The Grid Podcast and reflecting on the 2023 season.

Bernie Collins joined the Sky Sports F1 team this year after a very successful career as an engineer and strategist within Formula 1.

She has worked with some fantastic drivers including Nico Hulkenberg, Sergio Perez and Sebastian Vettel.

The four-time world champion even gave her a personal shoutout as she departed Aston Martin last year such was her importance to the team.

It means that her analysis of the teams and drivers on the grid should be taken very seriously.

Collins has admitted that Stroll didn’t have the strongest year at Aston Martin.

The 25-year-old has a tough job competing against teammate Fernando Alonso who has been one of the fastest drivers on the grid for the last 20 years.

Stroll’s pace at the end of the season picked up and that will give him encouragement going into 2024.

However, he needs to be challenging for podiums if Aston Martin deliver another strong car next year.

Collins admits Aston Martin driver Stroll has been ‘poor’ in 2023

Speaking about the Canadian driver, Collins said: “I think Lance gets a bad rap for his father owning the team and I think it’s very hard to remove that aspect when judging his performance.

“This year his performances have been poor, and you can argue that particularly since the car has got worse, and I think one of the things potentially Checo [Perez] was in Force India he was probably underrated.

“So, when Lance wasn’t beating Checo, Lance is then underrated even more which is why I think there’s been this drive to bring in Vettel and now to bring in Alonso, to bring in a driver that is very highly rated such that if they can get some close results it brings up the overall rating.

“And I will be interested to see, I don’t think we’ve had a good feel of him compared to Alonso because of what’s happened throughout the year.

“He does need to work on it more than the likes of Alonso or Vettel.”

Collins’s assessment of Stroll’s performance for Aston Martin is harsh but fair.

Formula 1 is a cut-throat sport and given how many young drivers are itching to get onto the grid, you have to be performing every week.

Aston Martin have Felipe Drugovich waiting in the wings and he’s been backed by Ronaldo to get his chance soon.

However, it would be a real shock to see Stroll dropped considering his father’s influence on the team.