After Aston Martin announced that Fernando Alonso had signed a new multi-year contract, attention turns to Lance Stroll. The son of team owner Lawrence, he finds himself in a unique situation.
Unlike many of the others drivers who are out of contract, Stroll’s future should be safe given his family connections. Indeed, Andrew Benson says there’s no chance he’ll lose his drive, even with race-winners like Carlos Sainz on the market.
The only thing that may open the door is Stroll deciding to quit. And Aston Martin ambassador Pedro de la Rosa has been discussing that possibility on the F1 Nation podcast.
Since he joined the F1 grid with Williams in 2017, Stroll has lost out to his teammate in all but one season. Felipe Massa beat him in his rookie year, and while he edged Sergey Sirotkin in 2018, he then lost out to Sergio Perez twice following his move to Racing Point.
Sebastian Vettel was next through the door following the Aston rebrand, and he also out-scored his younger partner in back-to-back seasons. And since Alonso joined the team at the start of last year, Stroll has barely been able to get near him.
Alonso leads their overall head 22-4 in qualifying and 21-5 in the races. The only time the 25-year-old has beat him this year was in Australia, when he received a 20-second post-race penalty following an incident with George Russell.
Pedro de la Rosa has a message for Lance Stroll
De La Rosa, who racked up more than a century of race starts between 1999 and 2012 with Arrows, Jaguar, McLaren, Sauber and HRT, addressed Damon Hill’s suggestion that Stroll may walk away. He feels that his colleague has every reason to stay put.
He says that the Canadian has shown some ‘incredible’ glimpses this year and should actually be buoyed by Alonso’s decision. In his mind, it shows that the team is in for a bright future.
He said: “Why should Lance not continue? There’s every reason to continue in the team with all the projects – that’s the reason why Fernando decided to stay.
“He’s had two incredible races in Jeddah and Australia. There were some parts of the race where he was faster than Fernando.
“Come on, why would you want to not continue racing if you can see what’s going on behind the scenes in the factory, with the new wind tunnel, with people joining the team? We’re generating an incredible team for the future.”
Stroll faces attitude questions after inconsistent start
While he may have benefitted from Alonso’s penalty, Stroll deserves credit for his sixth-place finish in Australia nonetheless. The problem is the two races either side, where he failed to bring home any points.
He crashed out in the early stages of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, and could only manage 12th last time out in Suzuka after a shock Q1 exit. Ted Kravitz spotted him looking dejected after the session had concluded.
Journalist Joe Saward has questioned Stroll’s level of hunger, while presenter Will Buxton picked him out as the driver who hates being interviewed more than any other. Perhaps that reflects his frustration with his current situation.
One figure inside the F1 paddock says the bottom-five teams are relying on Stroll to make a mistake, opening the door for them to score points. That’s the reputation he has earned, and one he needs to bust.
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