Lance Stroll’s bizarre Canadian GP press conference: dour, defensive, and disconnected

It was an extraordinary press conference. The kind that left even the greenest of journalists shaking their heads in disbelief at what they had just witnessed.

Lance Stroll’s performance in the pre-Canadian Grand Prix press event was as unconvincing as it was baffling.

As he spoke about the presumably optimistic news of being passed fit for his home race, he did so with all the joy of learning that his pet dog had been put down.

The Canadian trudged up the stairs to the press room in Montreal like he was on a trip to the dentist for root canal work, where he plonked himself down in front of the media.

Instead of beaming and being delighted to be back and fit enough to compete in his home race after being forced to sit out of the Spanish Grand Prix due to a wrist injury, he was incredibly dour in his responses.

He was cagey with the details of the wrist problem, cited as the reason he withdrew from the Spanish GP after a disappointing qualifying session.

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, Lance Stroll, Aston Martin Racing

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

Aston Martin team boss, Andy Cowell, had also remained tight-lipped on the medical procedure Stroll underwent – as of course is his right – so all we knew is it was the consequence of the cycling accident he had in the pre-season of the 2023 season.

“It’s just the old injury that I had with it a couple of years ago. Just started to bug me again and, yeah, just got it sorted,” said Stroll when asked to explain the procedure.

And how confident was he that now he had undergone the treatment that there would not be a recurrence of the problem?

“Pretty confident. Should be good,” was all he said in reply.

It is never easy dealing with a private medical matter in a public forum, but in this instance, it is unusual for a driver to be so candid.

He was flippant over other vague questions too. He was asked: “Just out of interest, when did you first come to the circuit Gilles Villeneuve?” It was a classic soft-soaping from the moderator, surely he’d bite and show some passion for his home race?

“A long time ago,” was the monosyllabic reply.

Lance Stroll, Aston Martin Racing; Zak Mauger

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images via Getty Images

It was increasingly difficult to watch, but perhaps the biggest takeaway was that he did not deny he threw a tantrum after his disappointment in qualifying. Reports had suggested that he broke items in the team’s garage and swore at a team member.

When asked, he said: “Yeah, I was frustrated. Frustrated about my wrist in the last three races and it was just inhibiting my driving. I knew that Sunday was going to be tricky, probably impossible, and at that point I was pretty frustrated about it.”

There was at least some passion, then. It would be good if we could see some of that from time to time.