Lance stroll

1. Who is Lance Stroll?

Lance Stroll is Canadian. He is born October 29, 1998 in Montreal. He pilots en Formula 1 since 2017 and drives this season for the Aston Martin team Racing.

Lance Stroll in the AMR24 during the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix © Xavi Bonilla / DPPI

2. Lance Stroll’s Junior Course

Lance Stroll began single-seater racing in 2014 by joining the Italian Formula 4 championship. During his first season, he was crowned champion thanks to his ten victories in seventeen races. The following year, he was promoted to European Formula 3 in the Prema Powerteam. Even though his performances were good, he was involved in numerous incidents and even found himself banned from a race. He calmed down in the second half of the season and ended up winning his first victory on the Hockenheim circuit (Germany) and finishing in fifth place in the Formula 3 European championship. After several years at the Ferrari Driver Academy, he became in 2016 member of the Williams F1 Young Driver Program and Development Driver. He will then succeed Esteban Ocon and Antonio Giovinazzi by becoming European Formula 3 champion with more than 200 points ahead of his runner-up, Maximilian Günther.

3. Lance Stroll’s F1 journey

His career in Formula 1 began in 2017 with the Williams team where he teamed up with Brazilian Felipe Massa, urgently recalled after the departure of Valtteri Bottas for Mercedes following the surprise retirement of Nico Rosberg. Lance Stroll will score his first points by finishing 9th in his national event, the Canadian Grand Prix. And it is in Azerbaijan that the Canadian pilot will experience his first moment of glory. Qualified 8th, he finished on the podium behind Daniel Ricciardo and Valtteri Bottas.

Lance Stroll in the FW40 in 2017 at Williams © FLORENT GOODEN / DPPI Media

At Monza, Lance Stroll climbs to the front of the starting grid after a good performance in qualifying in the rain. The 2018 season will be more difficult for Williams and him, with only 6 points on the clock and eighteenth place in the standings. In 2019, Lance Stroll left Williams to go to Racing Point, where his father Lawrence Stroll is one of the new owners. For his first race with the Roses, Lance Stroll finished 9th and scored his first points in pink.

Lance Stroll aboard the RP19 in 2019 © FREDERIC LE FLOC H / DPPI

In 2020, Lance Stroll would have his best season among the elite, despite some ups and downs. At the Turkish Grand Prix, he took his first pole position, again on a wet track. Despite an excellent start to the race, the GP would prove more complicated the next day, while Lewis Hamilton went on to win a 7th world title. Lance Stroll would still climb onto two podiums during this season where he was affected by COVID-19: in Italy behind Carlos Sainz and Pierre Gasly and in Bahrain at the Sakhir Grand Prix where he and his teammate Sergio Pérez achieved a historic double podium for Racing Point F1.

Sergio Pérez left for the ranks of Red Bull, Lance Stroll welcomes Sebastian Vettel as a new teammate in the team now called Aston Martin. The English structure wants to continue its momentum and thus get closer to the top of the table dominated by Mercedes and Red Bull in recent times.

Unfortunately, things did not go as planned for Aston Martin and the Montreal native, who suffered the blow. Surprisingly a year earlier, the Silverstone (UK) team failed to find its cruising speed and the race results were not there for the debut of the Lance Stroll / Sebastian Vettel duo.

Far from his level which allowed him to win his first pole position during the 2020 Turkish Grand Prix, Lance Stroll alternates between the good and the less good. Often eliminated prematurely in qualifying, the Canadian still grabbed points on several occasions, with a 6th place at the Qatar GP as his best result.

Eleventh in 2020 with 75 points, Lance Stroll finished the championship the following year in 13th place with 34 units, one place and 9 points behind his teammate Sebastian Vettel, author of Aston Martin's only podium in 2021 (Azerbaijan). Logically renewed for 2022 within the team, the season comes down to the tight mid-grid battle and in particular against Afla Romeo. He brings 18 points to the team compared to 37 for his teammate and four-time world champion. The two franchises finished tied, but the Bottas-Zhou duo took the advantage with a better position in the race.

Stroll aboard the AMR22 in 2022 © ANTONIN VINCENT / DPPI

In 2023, Vettel stepped aside and made way for another world champion alongside the Canadian: Fernando Alonso. This arrival seemed to have an effect since the Canadian made some notable progress after his return from fracture. Efforts that quickly faded given a lack of performance from the car, but which still allowed him to reach 10th place in the drivers' standings.

Protected by his status as the boss's son, the Canadian no longer appears defensible after yet another disastrous season. Which raises questions about his place in Formula 1, especially knowing the ambitions of a brand like Aston Martin. Lance Stroll only won 24 points in 2024, three times less than his teammate Fernando Alonso who, at 43 years old, is still looking to improve. Despite his disappointing performances, he will be back on the grid in 2025 alongside the Iberian.

4. AUTOHebdo reviews

Arriving in F1 with the label of "son of" attached to his overalls, Lance Stroll has never really shaken it off since. The Canadian has certainly had some brilliant moments during his career (three podiums and a pole position), but his inconsistency, his recurring problems in qualifying, and the general lack of enthusiasm he displays reveal a glass ceiling that is difficult to break for the Aston Martin driver. How much longer will his father be able to keep a seat warm for him?

5. Learn more about Lance Stroll

• Launches Stroll into a downward spiral
• Retro F1 – 2020 Vs 2021: Who won, who lost?
• Aston Martin confirms Stroll and Vettel for 2022
• Lance Stroll and the contract of unjustified duration
• F1 2024 Retro – The Confirmation: Lance Stroll