31 August 2023 , 17:51
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Aston Martin expect Lance Stroll to continue racing for the team in 2024 despite speculation over his future.
As the son of billionaire team owner Lawrence Stroll, the belief is the Canadian racer will have a seat at Aston Martin for as long as he wants it. But that desire has been called into question in recent weeks, thanks to some speculation from Formula 1 commentator David Croft.
The Sky Sports stalwart suggested in the summer that Stroll might not be as motivated as once was the case. "I want to see the Lance Stroll back that turned up in Bahrain, because I think he’s lost his way a little bit," he said.
"I do wonder, he's the one driver on the grid that you think: 'You're guaranteed a job as long as your dad is there', and we've never actually talked about contracts for Lance Stroll. We've never looked at his future elsewhere, but I just have a little feeling that in about a year and a half's time, Lance Stroll will race his last race in Formula 1 and go off and do something else."
Croft pointed out that, as well as being a driver good enough to reach F1, Stroll was also a talented tennis player in his youth. He suggested the Canadian might find pursuing a career in that sport might "fulfil him more" rather than his current standing on the F1 grid.
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Team boss Mike Krack was questioned on the subject as he faced reporters on Thursday ahead of this weekend's Italian Grand Prix. Asked if Stroll's place on the team is guaranteed, the Luxembourger responded by labelling the question as "provocative".
But he answered: "It's Monza, it's driver silly season and it’s bit boring at the moment. I think we don't have any such such debate at the moment. We will be fine next year with the two drivers."
Asked specifically if he felt he had seen any signs that Stroll was thinking about walking away, Krack added: "No, no. I think we have seen over the last weeks a very hard working driver trying to analyse every little detail where he can improve, being in the simulator, driving a lot, so I think there's nothing that goes in the direction."
While Stroll has been eclipsed this season by Fernando Alonso in terms of points gained, Krack was keen to assert that those numbers paint the picture of a larger performance gap between them than might actually be the case. He also pointed out that the 24-year-old has suffered more reliability and strategy woes than his more experienced team-mate this term.
He said: "Between drivers there is always a certain gap that you would say is circumstantial. Sometimes you have a bit of traffic, sometimes one has a glitch in one corner, but I think the drivers are normally within three tenths. When you look at the last qualifying sessions – Q1 in Zandvoort, for example – there was nothing between them, so I don't think that there is any particular characteristic that will be different for him than for Fernando."