United States Grand Prix, Lance Stroll missing from promotional poster, Aston Martin, McLaren, Oscar Piastri, latest, updates،
Lance Stroll’s future at Aston Martin was again the source of much speculation on Thursday after organizers of the United States Grand Prix included Brazilian reserve driver Felipe Drugovich in a promotional poster.
Canadian Stroll, 24, son of team owner Lawrence Stroll, whose net worth is estimated at A$5.7 billion, has been a regular fixture at the Silverstone-based team for three seasons but his form has declined this year while his teammate two world champion Fernando Alonso shone.
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Stroll’s absence from the bill alongside Spaniard Alonso was widely seen as an accident which was rectified by organizers after much discussion about his future on social media.
Stroll has apologized to the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), motorsport’s governing body, for his aggressive behavior at this month’s Qatar Grand Prix, where, for the fifth consecutive Grand Prix, he failed to advance from Q1 to qualifying.
Stroll threw his steering wheel out of his car in the Aston Martin garage, then pushed his personal trainer out of his way before responding with monosyllabic responses and an expletive during media interviews.
His teammate Alonso qualified fourth, confirming an apparent gap in potential and results between the two.
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Alonso is fourth in the World Drivers’ Championship while Stroll is 10th, 136 points behind.
With five rounds of the season remaining, starting this weekend in Texas, Aston Martin and McLaren are battling for fourth place in their title race and with it a significant amount of money in the constructors’ standings.
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Lando Norris predicted on Thursday that he and his in-form McLaren team would face a much tougher and closer battle for success at this weekend’s United States Grand Prix than in recent races.
The much-improved McLaren team took back-to-back double podiums at the last two Grands Prix in Japan and Qatar – but they don’t have high hopes for another rewarding weekend.
Speaking to reporters, Norris said the Circuit of the Americas would not favor their car.
“I’m not that confident,” he said.
“There are a lot more slow-speed corners, which is not our strong point. It’s hard for us. If you look at Singapore, we were obviously not bad there, but definitely not as strong as Ferrari.
“We know that on this type of circuit, Mercedes will be strong. Ferrari will be strong. Aston Martin, in the past, has been strong here.
“We knew Qatar was going to suit us, with lots of medium and high speed corners, but there are fewer here. But I’m not saying it will be a bad weekend. We can still fight, but it will be a much bigger fight.
