Stroll says 'plenty of positives to take' for Aston Martin from Bahrain after P10 finish

In their previous Racing Point guise, the team now known as Aston Martin won a race at the Bahrain International Circuit last year. And while there was no hint of a repeat of that result at this season's opening Grand Prix, Lance Stroll said there were still plenty of positives for the squad to take into the next race.

Stroll qualified 10th in Bahrain – making it to Q3 and out-qualifying four-time champion team mate Vettel – and finished there, giving Aston Martin their first-ever point as a manufacturer in F1. The 22-year old explained that he was left wanting more, but still happy to have got a point on the board - and to have had a battle with the returning two-time champion Fernando Alonso.

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“I’m pleased to come away with a point,” he said, “but it is fair to say we wanted more from today.

“We had a strong first half of the race and we made up some positions. I felt comfortable in the car and we were racing hard against the cars around us. We tailed off a little bit in the second half of the race on the hard tyres, but there are plenty of positives to take away,” he added.

The Canadian ran as high as seventh, racing against the likes of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Alonso in the Alpine. That was a highlight of Stroll’s Bahrain GP – though he lost out late on to rookie Yuki Tsunoda (in the video above), who finished ninth on debut.

Regardless, Stroll said: “I enjoyed some good battles too, especially with Fernando [Alonso] early on.

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“We know there are some areas where we can improve and everything we have learned this weekend will help us in the races to come. We have a few weeks before the next race to work on those things.”

Imola is next up and Aston Martin, whose Team Principal Otmar Szafnauer this week said that the new aero regulations are hurting them more than other teams, will look to make up lost ground with midfield rivals McLaren already on 18 points to Aston Martin’s single point from Bahrain.