One year after his pole position in Turkey, where is Lance Stroll?

The 15 November 2020, Lance stroll silenced all the detractors who accused him of being an impostor by winning the first pole position of his career in Formula 1, on the route of Istanbul Park. It was also the first time since 1997 and a certain Jacques Villeneuve that a Canadian started at the head of a Grand Prix. Another astonishing statistic, Lance Stroll was also the first non-pilotMercedes of the 2020 season to start from the front position. Obviously, the Quebecer has special memories of this unique performance. “My first experience in Turkey last year gave me one of the best moments of my career, when I took pole position and led all those laps on Sunday”he explained.

The rest of the race was less joyous for the son of Lawrence Stroll. After leading for 32 laps under the threat of Lewis Hamilton, the Canadian was aiming for at least a podium. But when he was called back to his pit to change his tires a second time, he came out in 4th and only fell further from there. To the point of finishing in an anonymous 9th position. The disappointment was all the greater since it was also his teammate Sergio Perez, who finished on the podium just behind winner Lewis Hamilton. “It's really hard to understand what happened today, regretted the current pilot ofAston Martin. Getting pole position was a great achievement, but it's on Sunday that we score points. " At the end of the weekend, obviously, we remembered Perez's podium more than Stroll's pole. 

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Since this famous pole, Lance Stroll has taken on a new status, with the obligation of results that goes with it. The goal ? Proving that his performance in Türkiye was no fluke. The champion of F3 2016 therefore had to strike hard again before the end of the season. The third place won in Sakhir (December 6) could have been this famous stroke of brilliance. Problem is, this Grand Prix was won by… Sergio Perez, who won his first Grand Prix victory and who therefore attracted all the limelight. 

With the arrival as teammate of a quadruple world champion like Sebastian Vettel for the 2021 season, the task promised to be even more difficult. But Stroll is not out of the picture. Before the start in Turkey this weekend, the German is only one position and eleven points ahead of Stroll. Not an infamous record against a champion of this caliber. In qualifying, Lance Stroll even leads 8 to 7 in his direct confrontations with his teammate. Except that here again, the laurels have more often chosen Vettel, since Aston Martin's only podium this year was achieved by the German, in Baku. The old pilot Ferrari had also achieved a good second place in Hungary, before finally being dispossessed after receiving a penalty. In terms of image, it is in any case much flashier than Stroll's seventh final place in Italy, his best result of the year so far. 

Lance Stroll's last podium, in Sakhir in 2020 – Photo Antonin Vincent / DPPI

Beyond the results and the sporting aspect, Lance Stroll is above all trying to get rid of the privileged image that has stuck to him since his beginnings due to the presence of his father in the F1 paddocks. Faced with a Sebastian Vettel appreciated by F1 fans, it is not always easy to take the spotlight. To ensure the defense of the Quebecer, we can obviously count on Lawrence Stroll who sees his son as the equal of Vettel. “I think Lance is doing an extraordinary job. He is only 22 years old. Whether it's his qualifying performances or his podiums, you know, he's fighting against Sebastian this year. They’re probably about the same level.”

It's as if Lance Stroll was still looking for himself, and that his strengths and weaknesses from 2020 had not fundamentally changed in 2021. His first podium with Williams in 2017 gave a glimpse of a lot of hope around him. At Racing Point then Aston Martin, the few successes were never followed by this much sought-after regularity which allows the drivers to reach new levels. By nature, Lance Stroll is a competitor, but he knows that, with his father leading the team, he has nothing to fear for his future. This is perhaps also the limit of his situation: without the famous pressure of results which normally allows pilots to transcend themselves and get the best out of themselves, the Canadian is perhaps unconsciously depriving himself of important resources which could help him pass the famous threshold that he has so much difficulty crossing.