13 September 2023 , 12:45
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Nico Rosberg thinks Lawrence Stroll will have to consider axing his own son Lance if he cannot improve his form.
Aston Martin began the season as the chief threat to runaway leaders Red Bull. Fernando Alonso has been strong throughout the campaign, scoring points at all 14 races so far and standing on the podium at the end of seven of them.
But his team-mate has been unable to live up to the Spaniard's results. Stroll suffered a disrupted start to the year when he broke his wrists in a cycling accident which forced him to miss pre-season testing and race several Grands Prix while not fully fit.
His results in that first part of the year were actually stronger. Stroll has managed just three points from the last five race weekends and his struggles are starting to have a notable impact on the team.
Aston Martin have slipped to fourth in the constructors' standings, behind both Mercedes and Ferrari. They have a 102-point buffer to McLaren below them but, with the latter improving in recent months, Aston will be looking nervously over their shoulders.
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What happens between now and the end of this season could decide the trajectory of Stroll's F1 career. His place with the team is rarely questioned, given he has the protection of being the owner's son, but billionaire Lawrence is an ambitious and ruthless man.
It remains to be seen whether he could go through with axing his own son in the search for success. But 2016 world champion Rosberg thinks that might be exactly what the Canadian has to do unless Lance can get back to his best form.
Telling the Sky Sports F1 podcast that it is "fundamental" to score points consistently, the German said: "I'm not really sure what's happened to Lance Stroll because he's a very decent driver and he showed at the beginning of the season how he can stay close to Fernando.
"When Fernando was third Lance was fifth or sixth. So I'm not really sure what's happened to him there. He's really in a difficult phase now and I think, long term for Aston, they can't really allow themselves to have one driver who's that far off.
"So either Lance gets back to where he can be and where he should be, or they're going to have to start thinking about changing things around there with the second driver. Fernando needs to be pushed. The set-up work is much better when there are two drivers who are on it, it has a whole different dynamic so it's very important to have two drivers who are very quick."