For the last two seasons, Red Bull have been unstoppable, as has three-time World Champion Max Verstappen. Fernando Alonso was the only non-Red Bull driver who took the fight to the Dutchman in the first half of 2023, before Aston Martin’s performance weakened.
The Silverstone-based side nevertheless proved last year that they have the capability of challenging the top team in the sport, with Aston Martin Technical Director Dan Fallows believing that Red Bull are “absolutely beatable”.
However, following the launch of their 2024 F1 challenger – the AMR24 – on Tuesday morning, Stroll has noted that the improving outfit are simply trying to be the “strongest” they can be, rather than targeting the Austrians.
Taking the fight to Red Bull and competing for victories is something Stroll wants to achieve going forwards, but for the time being, this is more of a long-term aim.
The Canadian recognises that when Aston Martin are working at their best, strong results are possible, with working at the highest level being their current priority.
Despite having only just taken the covers off their new car – a shakedown test has also been conducted – Stroll has revealed that there is more to come going forwards from Aston Martin as they are still busy at work behind-the-scenes, but that a much faster car is required to compete with Red Bull.
‘Things in the pipeline’
“I mean, we’ve just got to build a faster race car. It’s that’s simple really, ” Stroll joked to select media including RacingNews365.
“In all seriousness, they’ve been dominating the sport for the last couple of years, since the new set of regulations. And Max has also been driving outstandingly, he’s on top form. So it’s a challenge for sure.
“I don’t think our goal is really to go out and beat Red Bull. I mean, we want to get there eventually. But our goal is really to just be the strongest team we can be. And we have a lot of ideas, a lot of things in the pipeline to be a much stronger team and that’s where our focus is at.
“When we were just trying to be as strong as we could be, a lot of the time we really had a great car, and we were able to fight for great positions and get some really strong results. So that’s our focus.”
