Lance Stroll future questioned after Aston Martin jump to his defence

David Croft has questioned why Aston Martin defended Lance Stroll after his “rookie error” under the Safety Car at the Chinese Grand Prix.

Stroll ran into the back of Daniel Ricciardo's RB under the Safety Car in Sunday’s race at the Chinese Grand Prix.

Onboard footage showed that Stroll was looking in his right mirror, clattering into the rear of Ricciardo’s car.

Stroll was handed a 10-second time penalty for his actions, although Ricciardo was forced to retire with damage.

After the race, team boss Mike Krack was unhappy with how hastily the stewards decided to hand Stroll a penalty.

Speaking on the latest episode of the Sky F1 podcast, Croft was unhappy with Stroll - and Aston Martin’s - lack of accountability.

“It’s solely his fault,” Croft said. “I am amazed that the team has come out and tried to defend this one as well.

“It’s like the Fernando Alonso penalty in Australia where three days later the team comes out and defends Alonso - and you're thinking why are you doing that? 

"We’ve passed that discussion now. Why are you waiting so long? Oh yeah, you’re having contract negotiations, you’d like him to stay.

“This is almost like we’re going to back Lance because we want him to stay. 

"Is there a danger of Lance not being there? I don’t know the answer to that one but I don’t understand the defence and I don’t understand why Lance can’t put his hands up? That’s the mature thing to say.”

Stroll’s F1 future hasn’t officially been confirmed by Aston Martin, however, given that his father - Lawrence Stroll - owns the team, Stroll will drive for as long as he wants seemingly.

“Why is Lance under pressure other than the pressure of driving for a Formula 1 team? It’s pressure itself but if he wants to stay around he stays around surely,” Croft added.

“The team has been built around him and there’s nothing wrong with that whatsoever. If he wants to stay in F1, he stays in F1, that’s why his dad has invested so heavily into the facilities there and into the team. He wants his son to be a grand prix winner and to maybe have a chance of winning a world championship. Does he want to stay? I don’t know the answer.

“Sometimes he doesn’t look like he wants to be there and sometimes he does. Sometimes he puts in a traffic performance and sometimes he puts in a rookie error you don’t expect from a guy in eighth season in F1.”