F1 News: Lance Stroll earns season-best P5 start for Aston Martin in America
Lance Stroll has secured Aston Martin's best starting position of the season, requiring just one lap to put himself as the 'best of the rest' in qualifying.
The Canadian qualified in 7th but has been promoted to 5th place on the grid after applying Leclerc and Perez's engine penalties.
Aston Martin's biggest weakness this year has been qualifying, with the Silverstone-based squad proving competitive enough to score points in race trim since the summer break.
Lance Stroll's fantastic qualifying performance is an encouraging sign for Aston, a team gathering important momentum as 2023 approaches.
Within just seven points of sixth-place Alfa Romeo in the standings, Aston Martin has a big opportunity to score important points.
Speaking in Aston Martin's qualifying report, Stroll reflected on his session:
"The car felt really good today; we found plenty of grip, and the car gave me confidence. It gives us a great starting position for tomorrow.
"I am really pleased for the team because we made good progress with the car recently, and we are looking stronger on Saturdays.
"I really enjoyed it out there, even though conditions were tricky with the wind.
"It looks like we will start from fifth place, with a couple of penalties for the cars ahead, which means we are in the mix to pick up a good result on Sunday."