Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll is out of contract at the end of the season. The caveat, of course, is that his father Lawrence owns the team, which means the decision to continue may be in his own hands.
Stroll hasn’t had the best start to the year. The gap between himself and teammate Fernando Alonso is the largest between any duo on the grid (15 points).
He delivered a solid 10th-place finish at the season-opener in Bahrain and both out-qualified and out-raced Alonso in Australia. But the other two weekends haven’t gone remotely to plan.
He crashed out of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in the early stages, and then suffered a Q1 exit in Japan that left him looking dejected. He was only able to recover to 12th in the race.
One individual from a midfield team has even said that they’re banking on Stroll to make a mistake to open up opportunities for points. The feeling is that he isn’t able to maximise the potential of his car in the same manner as Alonso.
The Spaniard inadvertently brought Stroll’s future into focus when he signed a new multi-year deal with Aston Martin after the race in Japan. The F1 world is waiting to see whether the Canadian will indeed complete that line-up for 2025.
Team ambassador Pedro de la Rosa has strongly urged him to continue. With an exclusive Honda partnership agreed for 2026, he feels that the team is headed in an exciting direction.
Lance Stroll addresses Aston Martin future
In an interview for F1TV, Will Buxton asked Stroll whether he’d be ‘back’ with Aston next year. Buxton has previously said that the 25-year-old ‘hates’ being behind a microphone more than any driver on the grid.
On this occasion, he simply replied ‘time will tell’, before adding: “I’m just thinking about China right now. And we’ll see what the future holds.”
Journalist Joe Saward has accused Stroll of lacking hunger relative to his competitors. Stroll might point out that he fought hard to return for last year’s Bahrain Grand Prix after breaking both of his wrists in a bicycle crash.
There have been suggestions that title sponsors Aramco could pursue a full takeover of the team. If that moves Stroll senior out of a position of power, then his future could also be under threat.
Who could replace Lance Stroll at Aston Martin?
There are a number of drivers who may view the Aston Martin seat as attractive if Stroll leaves. One of could be Carlos Sainz, who’s a free agent for 2025.
Ferrari decided not to renew Sainz’s deal and sign seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton instead. BBC journalist Andrew Benson previously said that the three-time race-winner only had a chance of replacing Alonso.
But if Stroll is no longer interested in fighting what looks like a losing battle against Alonso, it could open a door. Pundit Marc Priestley has even suggested that the former could move into sportscars to clear a path for Sainz.
Another driver mentioned as a possible candidate is Yuki Tsunoda. Tsunoda, who’s dominating Daniel Ricciardo at RB this season, has ties to Japanese giants Honda.
With Red Bull seemingly disinterested in the idea of promoting him to the top team, he could be looking for a way out of RB. It’s a marriage that appears to make sense.
Lawrence Stroll is determined to deliver a title-winning car for his son. But while Aston may reach that level eventually, there’s been little evidence so far that he’s equipped to make the most of it.
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