Former F1 driver Montoya “Lance Stroll underrated”[F1-Gate.com]

Former F1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya thinks Lance Stroll is ‘extremely rare’ and will help Aston Martin F1 team-mate Fernando Alonso improve it. He suffered a memorable weekend walk at the Monaco F1 Grand Prix, following an exit in Q2, followed by a number of crashes in the final and eventual retirement.

Stroll has failed to score just 27 of Aston Martin’s 120 F1 points in the opening six races of the season, while Alonso has scored 93 points, including five podiums. But Montoya looked back and defended Stroll’s disastrous weekend. “Lance has come a long way and I think Fernando will make him a better driver,” Montoya told the Sky Sports F1 Podcast. “What he did is right. With a car as fast as it is, you either stand in line and do nothing or try. “You might get a point or two. Go for it and if it works it looks really good. It doesn’t work you lose a point or two.” Millionaire Aston Martin owner Asked if Lawrence Stroll should encourage his son to take more risks, Montoya said: “Honestly, if not, you should.” “Lance has opportunity I think it’s better than people think and it’s very underrated. “He’s a very nice guy, quiet, but in his corner, somebody. I think I need to kick him in the ass and say, ‘Look, mate, why did I lose two tenths here?'” “He needs to go out of his comfort zone. In a way, it would be a few shunts similar to what he tried in Monaco.” I’d rather see him try than just sit there. The next time he does it, “He knows he can do it.” “When you get past somebody, he knows he’s the guy who thinks it’s right hit him if he knows you’re coming, he’ll give us space.” Sky Sports F1 commentator David Croft also backed Stroll, arguing that he deserved to be on the grid. “I think Lance is more than good enough to keep himself in F1,” said Croft. “Otherwise he wouldn’t have taken pole, he wouldn’t have got a podium, he wouldn’t have been the youngest to start from the front row, he wouldn’t have won a championship going into F1.”