Exclusive: Why Lance Stroll is 'key' to Aston Martin success

Aston Martin Engineering Director Luca Furbatto has labelled Lance Stroll as the "key" to the team's development.

The Silverstone-based outfit has made huge strides this term, rising to second in F1's Constructors' standings after five races behind only Red Bull.

Stroll has been with the team since running under the Racing Point moniker but has been joined by two-time World Champion Fernando Alonso, who has collected four podiums this season.

Praise has been handed to the Canadian despite his struggles in matching his more experienced teammate, with Furbatto underlining Stroll's importance to Aston Martin when speaking exclusively to RacingNews365.com.

"Lance has been the element of continuity for us over the last few years," said Furbatto.

"That has been very important. We obviously had Sebastian for two years and now Fernando but in reality, the continuity has been Lance.

"Lance is a very good driver in many respects. His feedback last year was very similar to Sebastian, this year to Alonso.

"When you are developing mechanical solutions, Lance has been the key to judge whether we did a good job or not on those."

Stroll entered the season on the back foot having sustained broken bones in both wrists and his foot, but was still on pace with the top eight.

"I was particularly impressed when he did the purple sector in Jeddah in the first sector. For someone with the level of injuries he had on both wrists and toe, in a sector that is all blind corners and fast, it demonstrated he is a super-talented driver and we are very grateful he is with us."

Vettel and Alonso 'contributed a lot'

Alonso arrived in place of Sebastian Vettel after the German retired from F1, with his former rival filling the void of title-winning experience that was left by the four-time champion.

Vettel was unable to experience the wealth of performance Alonso has inherited with Aston Martin firmly in F1's midfield over the past two seasons, but Furbatto has insisted each have added to the uptick in form.

"They have both contributed a lot. You should have seen all the debriefs where Sebastian was involved. We would spend countless hours trying to improve the car," added Furbatto.

"In reality, the performance of the car wasn't particularly there last year, it got better once he had made the decision to leave and Fernando joined the team with a much stronger car, a car he liked straight away in Abu Dhabi.

"But they are both multiple-time World Champions bringing a lot to the team, helping the team move forward.

"They perhaps like a slightly different balance in the car. Perhaps Lance is closer to Fernando in the way he likes the car compared to Sebastian in that respect."