Revealed: Why Lance Stroll is ‘one of most deserving drivers to continue in F1’

Lance Stroll’s place in F1 shouldn’t be in question, believes 1997 F1 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve, especially at this point of the 2024 season.

Given his lack of headline-grabbing results, and having usually been eclipsed by his F1 World Champion teammate Fernando Alonso during their time together, Lance Stroll has come in for a lot of criticism over the last 18 months – undeservedly so, believes his compatriot Jacques Villeneuve.

Jacques Villeneuve: Lance Stroll isn’t off the pace

Last year, Fernando Alonso finished fourth in the Drivers’ Championship having scored umpteen podium finishes. Scoring 206 points to Lance Stroll’s 74, the Canadian driver’s contribution – which was less than half of Alonso’s – theoretically cost Aston Martin fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship as McLaren finished 22 points ahead.

Had Aston Martin had two drivers scoring the potential shown by Alonso, even third place in the championship could be said to have been a missed target, resulting in Stroll – son of billionaire team owner Lawrence – coming in for some flak.

This continued into the early part of this season, particularly following a silly incident in the Chinese Grand Prix where Stroll drove into the back of Daniel Ricciardo’s VCARB under Safety Car conditions, resulting in Ricciardo making his feelings clear about Stroll’s attitude as the Canadian failed to take responsibility for the incident.

But Stroll has performed better relative to Alonso through the middle part of 2024, although the points score is still heavily skewed in Alonso’s favour – the Spaniard has scored 49 points, with Stroll on 24.

The pair occupy ninth and 10th in the Drivers’ Championship and there’s no sense of wasted potential in the Constructors’ Championship – Aston Martin is fifth, comfortably clear of VCARB, and on fewer than a third of the points of fourth-place Mercedes.

Given the investment being pumped into the team by Lawrence Stroll as he bids to turn Aston Martin into a front-runner and championship-contending team, the continued presence of his son on the driver line-up continues to raise eyebrows as seemingly stronger options appear available.

But, according to Jacques Villeneuve, Stroll’s better performances relative to Alonso is one of the factors that make him deserving of his place at the Silverstone-based squad.

“Lance Stroll is one of the most deserving drivers to continue racing in F1 because his dad bought the team,” Villeneuve told InstantCasino.com.

“Of course, he deserves to be there. Aston Martin’s team could have gone bankrupt if not for Lawrence Stroll, so he deserves to employ his son and keep him in F1, it’s simple.

“Lance isn’t running last and off the pace, he’s matching Fernando Alonso’s level. The minute Alonso re-signed with the team, he has struggled and Lance has looked the better driver since.”

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But while Stroll is in his position at Aston Martin with the influence of his father’s ownership of the team, Villeneuve said Stroll must continue to show performance levels to justify that place – as other wealthy drivers have done.

“Lance knows he’s in F1 because his dad has bought the team, now he needs to show he is quick,” Villeneuve said.

“He needs to realise there have been other millionaire drivers who had the same privileges, like Ayrton Senna, Niki Lauda, and Lando Norris. Lance is lucky, but there’s nothing wrong with that and he needs to show he can race fast.”

According to a recent report from Italy’s AutoSprint, Stroll senior is eyeing up a strong driver line-up and is angling to tempt Max Verstappen to the team – potentially to follow Adrian Newey across from Red Bull, if rumours are to be believed.

Pairing Verstappen with Alonso, with the Spaniard on a long-term deal that will see him into the new regulations cycle, the suggestion is that Stroll would be moved aside into the Aston Martin WEC hypercar project.

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