Rosberg scrutinises Stroll: ‘You can’t have one driver who’s a long way off’

Stroll sits 123 points behind teammate Alonso in the champion standings following the Italian Grand Prix.

It was another poor weekend from the Canadian at Monza, who qualified last whereas Alonso progressed into Q3 once again.

Stroll’s poor form has meant Aston Martin have slipped from second to fourth in the championship standings behind Mercedes and Ferrari.

With McLaren likely to be competitive from the start in 2024, Aston Martin’s one-sided driver line up may cost them a top four spot next year.

Speaking on the latest episode of the Sky Sports F1 podcast, Rosberg gave his thoughts on Stroll’s struggles.

“I’m not sure what’s happened to Lance,” he said. “He’s a very decent driver, he showed at the start of the season he can stay close to Fernando. When Fernando was third, Lance was fifth or sixth.

“He’s in a difficult phase now. Long-term for Aston, they can’t allow themselves to have one driver who’s a long way off.

“Either Lance gets back to where he can be, should be, or they need to think about changing things around with the second driver.

“Fernando needs to be pushed. The set-up work is better when there is two drivers who are on it. It’s a different dynamic. It’s important to have two drivers who are quick.”

Given that Stroll’s father, Lawrence, owns the team, Rosberg doubts any change to line-up will be made unless the decision is made by Lance himself.

“It’s impossible for me to judge,” he added. “Probably, it would be Lance saying ‘hey, I should go and do something else’ if he continues to struggle like he is at the moment. 

“The easiest would be if Lance finds a way back to where he can be, which is not too far from Fernando.

‘It’s a father-son relationship, that’s the challenge, that’s what matters. So it’s a difficult one. If Aston were second in the constructor’s, I think it’s £30m or so more in revenues from TV money shares, from second to fourth. So there’s a lot of money at stake."