What was behind Lance Stroll’s bizarre Italian GP media silence?

Lance Stroll once again found himself in the spotlight for his blunt responses to media following the Italian Grand Prix.

Aston Martin had a race to forget at Monza, with Stroll trundling home 18th after teammate Fernando Alonso was forced to retire with a suspension failure while running inside the top-10.

Stroll, who has gained a reputation for not being the most talkative at the best of times, took things to a new level after a tough weekend in Italy.

The Canadian’s post-race interview with F1.com's Lawrence Barretto lasted a mere 10 second and consisted of just four words - “yep” and “it was okay”.

Stroll’s near-silence continued when speaking to the written press in the media pen.

Asked if Aston Martin’s one-stop strategy gamble did not pay off, Stroll simply replied: “Yep”.

Stroll responded “not much” when he was asked if there were any positives to take away from the weekend.

Stroll was forced off-track in a clash with Esteban Ocon which earned the Haas driver a five-second penalty.

Asked for his opinion on the incident, Stroll was tight-lipped. Pushed on whether he agreed with the penalty, he simply said: “I don’t have anything to say about it” before walking off.

Aston Martin defend Lance Stroll

Aston Martin chief trackside officer Mike Krack was asked about Stroll’s behaviour later on Sunday evening.

“I think in these situations when you have a race with almost no degradation and you start from the back, you have to hope for opportunities,” Krack said. “We always get safety cars when we have done our pitstops, so we said let's wait until the safety car comes this time and then it doesn't come.

“It is normal that you are a bit frustrated because you are fighting for nothing, although you are pushing to the limit. So I can understand a certain level of frustration.”

Krack also revealed Aston Martin suffered “an issue on the pit gantry” that will be investigated.

“As a result, Stroll was held longer in the pits than necessary,” he added. “We have downloaded now the log data and this is another thing that will have to be analysed.”