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Lance Stroll returns to Baku, site of his first F1 podium

Canadian Lance Stroll claimed his first podium finish at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix last year after a hard fight with Daniel Ricciardo. With more experience this year, he says he will fight more aggressively.

Lance Stroll, Williams

Lance Stroll, Williams

Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images

Lance Stroll, Williams Racing
Lance Stroll, Williams FW41 Mercedes, on the grid
Lance Stroll, Williams FW41
Lance Stroll, Williams Racing
 Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull Racing, celebrates victory on the podium, Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes AMG F1, Lance Stroll, Williams
Lance Stroll, Williams FW40
Lance Stroll, Williams FW40, celebrates third place by displaying a Canadian flag in the pit lane
Lance Stroll, Williams, David Coulthard, Channel Four TV Commentator

Lance Stroll planted his Mercedes-powered Williams FW40 in eighth place on the grid last year. During the race, he was running in third when the race was red flagged because of an incident.

On the restart, he got passed by the Red Bull of Australian Daniel Ricciardo who powered on to victory. On the last lap, Stroll was demoted to third when Valtteri Bottas motored ahead of him.

“Yeah, the car was working really well there, so we had a very competitive car,” said the Montréal native in an exclusive interview with Motorsport.com. “Ricciardo overtook me and I was following him. He never really pulled away more than three to five seconds. We had very minimum degradation, we had a good balance throughout the whole race. If you look at today, we’re getting lapped by the Red Bulls, so…”

Stroll claims things would have different if he’d fought Ricciardo a bit more.

“If I look at it today, I probably could have won the race, because I would’ve defended Ricciardo in Turn 1 more if I would have thought he would have dived from so far. I braked early because there was a lot happening on the restart and the cold. So I braked early, not really knowing that he was there. But then when I saw someone come in a mirror I really knew he was committed and I cannot turn in, otherwise we’ll crash. So that was a bit late,” Stroll added.

I was a bit unlucky with Bottas at the end

Lance Stroll

The same feat happened on the last lap when the flying Bottas passed him in his Mercedes moments before the chequered flag.

“I was a bit unlucky with Bottas at the end. Just remember it being a hectic race, a crazy race, but we had a good balance, a good pace at the whole thing,” the Canadian added.

Stroll will contest his second race on the streets of Baku this weekend; an exciting circuit with an incredible range of character from the slow track through the old city to the very long straight at the start-finish line.

“I have some great memories of Baku. It was my first podium in F1, so I shall never forget that, and the whole experience was amazing,” Stroll said.

“Not only is it a great circuit, but Baku itself is a nice place. I had never been before, so it was all-new to me last year but there was definitely a lot to see in the city. The track is pretty spectacular to drive. It is a long lap and is a technical track with a bit of everything. Since it is a street circuit and there are walls all round it, there is no room for errors.”

Quotes from Oleg Karpov

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