It has been an F1 season to forget for Lance Stroll, who languishes over 100 points behind teammate Fernando Alonso in the drivers' championship.
Stroll has struggled to get the most out of a rapid Aston Martin car in 2023, having similarly struggled in a slower car last season against Sebastian Vettel.
While Alonso has managed seven podiums and two front-row starts, Stroll can only boast a single P4 as his best result of the season, as his torrid form continues.
The Canadian driver was visibly frustrated as he endured yet more pain in Qatar on Friday evening, qualifying in P17 while his teammate will line up on the second row.
In the aftermath of qualifying, Sky F1 pundits Naomi Schiff and Karun Chandhok discussed a controversial incident which saw Stroll appear to physically lash out at his personal trainer - a move Schiff called "totally inappropriate."
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F1: Sky pundits slam Lance Stroll for shoving personal trainer in Qatar
Lance Stroll's shocking run of form in F1 qualifying continued on Friday in Qatar, as he could only manage a Q1 exit in P17.
The last time he appeared in Q3 was at July's Belgian Grand Prix, and he has now endured four consecutive Q1 exits in a car which will line up on the second row for Sunday's race in the hands of Fernando Alonso.
Stroll was visibly furious as he emerged from his car in the Aston Martin garage, throwing his gloves from the car before his personal trainer Henry Howe approached the Canadian driver.
As Howe attempted to put his arm around Stroll, he was rebuked, before Stroll appeared to forcefully shove Howe out of the way as he left the garage.
Stroll cut a dejected figure as he spoke to the media, giving hostile one-word answers as he grappled with the worst run of form of his F1 career and an off-track altercation with his PT.
Lance Stroll's angry reaction following his exit from Q1 as he appears to push his personal trainer out of the way 👇 pic.twitter.com/ERNNGjvfMh
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) October 6, 2023
The role of a personal trainer to an F1 driver is absolutely crucial, with each PT giving immense support to the 20 drivers on the grid throughout a race weekend, so to see Stroll lash out at Howe was a particularly shocking indictment of just how bad things have gotten for the Canadian.
In their post-qualifying analysis, Sky F1's pundits were far from impressed with Stroll's antics.
"That is really totally inappropriate"
Naomi and Karun react to Lance Stroll's reaction following his Q1 exit 👇 pic.twitter.com/voMuu587zr— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) October 6, 2023
Naomi Schiff would acknowledge that something has clearly gone wrong for Lance Stroll - but made clear that his conduct was wholly unacceptable, especially against someone who has worked so hard to try and help him get the most out of the car:
Obviously, multiple poor performances in a row.
You look at this in slow motion, he puts a lot of energy into this shove and that is really totally inappropriate. You cannot be behaving that way, no matter how disappointing your day has been, those are the people who work to get you on track, to make it happen for you. You can't be treating your team like that. It's one thing to have a bad day, come out of the car, and apologise - but to come out and act that way is just not good enough.
He's clearly distressed. We have to empathise, because he is a human being and he's got emotions. You can see him picking at his hair when he's giving his one word answers, he's obviously going through something - but that doesn't make it okay. You've got to act better.
Ex-F1 driver Karun Chandhok would go on to sum up just how much Stroll's form was hurting his team, who look likely to miss out on crucial prize money as a result of the 24-year-old's poor results:
It's cost them in the constructors' championship, hasn't it?
Earlier on in the year, we were looking at them being second in the constructors' - they're now likely to end up fifth with the way McLaren have caught up with them.
The reality is...he's scored less than a third of Alonso's points. There's the delta. McLaren have benefitted from the fact that they have two drivers racking up the points - it's allowed them to catch up.
The Qatar Grand Prix is a sprint weekend, meaning Stroll will at least have a chance to redeem himself in Saturday's shootout qualifying and sprint race - the only events in which he has had the measure of Fernando Alonso thus far in 2023.
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