Super Stroll bags first podium of Racing Point era

Lance Stroll and his Racing Point team, partnered by Acronis, were left celebrating the first podium of the Racing Point era, since the team changed identity and ownership from Force India.

And it took an outstanding effort for the Canadian to bag that podium at the Italian Grand Prix, having started from P8 on the grid and making up a bunch of places before a first safety car situation and then a red flagged race led to a frantic and exciting end to a brilliant race.

What. A. Day.

To every single one of our teammates – trackside and back at HQ – who worked so hard to get us here today… this one's for you 🤜🏆🤛#ItalianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/l32tGGxVAP

— BWT Racing Point F1 Team (@RacingPointF1) September 6, 2020

“It’s been a while since I’ve stood on the podium, but it was worth the wait to get my second one!” said Stroll. “It feels great to be back on the podium, I’m still pinching myself! It’s a weird scenario in a red flag situation – we don’t usually get an intermission during races! You just have to reset and prepare. Firstly, I want to congratulate Pierre, it was such a crazy race, but he fully deserved that win. He had a great launch at the restart and was so consistent after that.”

Boom!! P3!! 🍾🏆 Great day for the team. Congrats on securing the win @PierreGASLY, you deserved that! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/OCw9pB7yCY

— Lance Stroll (@lance_stroll) September 6, 2020

Lance

It could have been even better for Stroll but for losing places on the restart before battling back to finish behind race winner Gasly and McLaren’s Carlos Sainz.

“It’s a bit of a bummer for me, because I think it was our race to win,” he added. “I had no grip at the restart and had too much wheelspin, so I lost a few places and fell back to P6. I had a good battle with Carlos after getting some places back – I overtook him but he got me back and I was pushing for the win right to the end. We got a bit of luck with the timing of the red flag, but that’s part of Formula 1 and I’ll take it when it comes! Regardless, I’m delighted with third today. I’m so happy for the team – thanks to them for giving me such a strong car.”

Otmar Szafnauer, CEO & Team Principal, echoed the sentiments of his star driver on the day, the podium now putting Stroll fourth in the drivers’ standings.

“Congratulations to Lance and the whole team for today’s podium – the first of the Racing Point era,” said Szafnauer. “It was a day all about taking opportunities and I’m very proud of the whole team. Lance battled hard today – making some excellent overtaking moves – and he really deserves this result. On the other hand, the luck didn’t go Sergio’s way today and his chances of scoring good points ended when the safety car came out. All in all though, it’s a day of celebration for everybody at Racing Point. It’s great to taste the champagne again and today’s silverware is a fitting reward for the efforts back at base and trackside this year.”