In China last weekend, Stroll received a 10-second penalty after the stewards decided he was at fault for a collision with Daniel Ricciardo. He couldn’t slow down quickly enough to avoid hitting the RB at the safety car restart.

He lifted the rear of Ricciardo’s car into the air and sent the Australian into the back of Oscar Piastri ahead. The former had to retire with his damage, while the latter managed to finish eighth.

Stroll, who ultimately finished 15th, has now scored points in just one of the last four races. He crashed out in Saudi Arabia and had to settle for 12th in Japan after a Q1 exit.

In the midst of this run, he also delivered surely his strongest performance of the season so far in Australia, out-qualifying and out-racing teammate Alonso. It was far from a clean weekend for the Spaniard, but Stroll coming out on top remains an exceedingly rare occurrence.

The race in Melbourne accounts for eight of his nine championship points so far. Alonso is only two spots ahead in the standings (eighth vs 10th), but he’s sitting on 31.

Speaking on the Sky Sports F1 podcast, David Croft expressed his dismay at Aston Martin’s response to Stroll’s penalty. Team principal Mike Krack told Autosport that he considered it ‘very harsh’.

Croft drew comparisons to the fallout from Alonso’s 20-second penalty at the Australian GP. The stewards found that he’d driven in a potentially dangerous manner before George Russell crashed out.

Aston Martin subsequently released a statement on social media questioning that verdict. And Croft doesn’t understand why neither the team nor the driver want to accept responsibility in this instance.

He said: “I’m amazed that the team have 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 come out and defend Fernando Alonso, and you’re thinking ‘why are you doing that? We’ve come past 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 in the team’. 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 just can’t put his hands up, because that’s the mature thing to say, and go ‘yeah, I was looking in my mirrors, I got it wrong’.”

Stroll picked up two penalty points following his collision with Ricciardo on Sunday. In total, he’s now accumulated seven.

He earned the first two after a tangle with Pierre Gasly at last year’s British Grand Prix. And then he was hit with three more for overtaking under yellow flags in Las Vegas.

According to the letter of the law, a driver should receive a race ban if they reach 12 within the space of a year. Stroll has until July to avoid receiving another five, though it’s unclear if the FIA would follow through on a suspension.

Only two drivers – Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and Williams’ Logan Sargeant (both eight) – have amassed more over the last 12 months. That won’t help Stroll’s reputation as a driver who struggles to keep his nose clean.

Indeed, one F1 team member says those in the lower midfield are relying on him to make a mistake and open the door for points. Croft feels that, 148 races into his F1 career, he continues to make ‘rookie errors’.