Outside Line: Good time for Lance Stroll to stop living Daddy's F1 dream

Tuesday, 03 June 2025 at 08:00

I don’t like kicking someone when they’re down, especially when they’re injured, but Lance Stroll should stay down. Because if he comes up again, we’re going to have to kick him. There is no place in Formula 1 for him anymore.

He’s not a nice guy. He’s not a good driver. He brings nothing to Formula 1. All he’s doing is tarnishing his billionaire dad’s mega project. Think about what Lawrence Stroll built for his son.

He built the best of the best factory, hired the best of the best F1 brainpower; including Adrian Newey. Lawrence has spent fortunes making Aston Martin a title-contending project. But what’s the rotten core? His own son. A spoilt brat who has no business being in that car.

And I’m going to say what’s been dawning on me, a theory you could say. Lance is finally reaching the age where he’s telling his Dad, “F@ck you.” Not out loud, but through his driving or lack of it. Maybe, deep down, he never wanted to be a racing driver.

That was Lawrence’s dream. Maybe Lance wanted to be a dressmaker, aka fashion designer, like his mother, Claire-Anne Callens. Anything but a Formula 1 driver. But Daddy made him drive. Bought him the best of the best. And now, the poor rich kid has had enough.

The end of a dream that was maybe never his

I sincerely hope that was the last we see of young Stroll in Formula 1. Not in racing entirely, he can go prove himself somewhere else if he truly wants to. And if he is a real racing driver, we’ll know.

He could go to WEC. He could get involved with the Aston Martin Hypercar project. He’ll be away from the spotlight, away from the F1 pressure cooker. And he won’t look like a man who’s just had sour lemons shoved where the sun doesn’t shine.

Or he gets into business with his mum, launches Designs by Lance, and finally follows his fashion dream. Not Papa Stroll’s macho man racing stuff.

No matter how you try spin it, nine seasons into his career in the top flight, 26-year-old Lance Stroll has become the antithesis of what a Formula 1 driver should be. So much so, I firmly believe he is among the worst ten or so drivers to make it into the top flight this century, if not ever.

In my book, a successful Formula 1 driver combines natural talent with a relentless work ethic, mental toughness, adaptability, and precision under pressure. Mastery of racecraft, communication with engineers, physical fitness, and consistency are key. And they're generally cool guys, too. Lance is none of those.

The stats tell a bleak story of Stroll's F1 career

Furthermore, backed by a competitive team and car, a Formula 1 driver must deliver results, evolve constantly, and thrive in high-stakes environments. Get better all the time. Experience equals consistency. But Stroll has failed on all fronts and has both hands firmly on the Worst Of All Time title. The Formula 1 W.O.A.T.

Although during qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix, Stroll made it into Q2, he still holds the record as the most eliminated driver in Q1 history with 78 exits.

He has also been outqualified by veteran Fernando Alonso in 21 consecutive races, Barcelona included. But that's the last we've seen of the lad for now, as he was given a sick note and allowed to miss Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix due to a hand injury.

For the record, I was a Lance Stroll believer. I bought into Lawrence's amazing dream of getting his son into Formula 1 at all costs. I’d do the same if I were as rich as he is. The crew here at GrandPrix247 even anointed me as President of the Lance Stroll Fan Club.

A career built on cash, not competition

But now, nine seasons into his F1 career, in Spain, he should have been making his 175th Grand Prix start. And it is clear, if Daddy were not the boss at Aston Martin, if the team was not built around Lance, he would long ago be out of a drive. Probably in WEC, doing well and enjoying himself.

If you had told me back in 2010 that an 11-year-old Lance Stroll would become one of the most divisive names in Formula 1 history, I’d have raised an eyebrow. And yet, here we are. Over a decade into his career, Stroll is still fighting off the same old accusation: that he bought his seat. And now more than ever before, injured or not, he no longer deserves to be on the F1 grid.

Despite the three GP podiums, the one F1 pole position, and titles in the junior ranks, the "pay driver" tag won’t go away. Why? Because the path he took to get here was, in a word, unprecedented for all the wrong reasons. Money. And not just a little.

Let’s rewind. In 2010, Ferrari signed Stroll to their Young Driver Academy. He was 11, had just started karting a year earlier, the son of Ferrari road and race car collector and billionaire Lawrence Stroll. That’s not just early. That’s extraordinary for a team that had hardly set an eye on youth development for most of its existence.

Privilege over merit: the pattern continues

From then on, Stroll was parachuted into the European karting scene almost overnight. His early results were modest. He finished 21st in KF3 while George Russell took the title. But after a detour to the U.S., where he won in SKUSA Juniors, his momentum returned.

Then came single-seaters. In 2014, Stroll entered the Italian F4 Championship, but not before his father poured millions into Prema Powerteam and secured Formula 1-level personnel to guide his rise. Stroll won the title with ease, even while missing the final round due to injury. Seven wins, 13 podiums, five poles. Impressive on paper. But beneath it? A murky picture of privilege.

In the previous season, the series had Verstappen, Ocon, and Giovinazzi battling in a 25-car grid. When Stroll showed up, the field shrank by half. Why? Many teams and their drivers simply didn’t want to compete with the bottomless funding his campaign had from his billionaire dad.

Stroll’s move to Formula 3 only intensified the scrutiny. Again, he raced with Prema. Again, the best engineers, the best data, the best resources. And again, he won, this time the 2016 FIA European F3 title with 14 wins and the championship wrapped up four races early.

Controversy, criticism and a protected rise

But the manner of the victories raised questions. Team orders were suspected. Teammates allegedly held station. Some are alleged to have given way to Sir Lance. A free pass that was so blatant, George Russell publicly criticised the fairness of the championship.

Meanwhile, rumours swirled that Stroll’s car ran a Williams F1-developed part not available to others. Prema denied wrongdoing. No penalties followed. But the controversy stuck. Guess where Lance went next?

That leap: straight to Formula 1 in 2017 with Williams. No Formula 2. Just a multimillion-dollar investment from Lawrence Stroll and a seat waiting at a backmarker team being destroyed by Claire Williams. Critics howled.

But then something happened. Stroll held his own. His third-place finish in Baku silenced some, briefly. He scored 40 points to finish P12 in the championship. As a rookie, he showed he could deliver under pressure. That might have been his peak.

Since then, Stroll’s career has continued, first with Racing Point (formerly Force India), and now under the Aston Martin banner. He’s had highs, a pole in Turkey 2020, podiums in Monza and Sakhir.

But also plenty more lows than highs, clumsy racecraft, a 2022 US Grand Prix crash after weaving into Alonso, penalties in Hungary and Brazil, and let’s not forget that moment in Qatar when he shoved his own trainer. Then came the grid penalty in Monaco 2025 for ramming Leclerc.

Stroll makes a case for being Formula 1's W.O.A.T.

Stroll has become the definition of inconsistency and is incident-prone. He is not untalented. But his inability to consistently beat teammates, whether it be Massa, Perez, Vettel, or Alonso, only fuels the fire that he is in Formula 1 because of his surname, not his skill.

Let’s be honest. If his name wasn’t Stroll, and if his father hadn’t bankrolled half the teams he’s driven for, would he have made it to F1? Probably not. Would he have stayed this long? Definitely not.

The problem is, in a sport where hundreds of young drivers dream of even a shot at the big time, Stroll’s presence, long-running, lucrative, and protected, feels like the ultimate reminder that talent alone doesn’t always get you there.

And that’s why, for better or worse, entitled Stroll will be remembered in years to come as one of the most unpleasant characters in Formula 1 history, and in my book, the sport’s W.O.A.T. in terms of bang for bucks.

The Kid who lived his Daddy’s Formula 1 dream. Badly. And never seemed to enjoy a moment of it. Or at least that’s how most of us will remember him. Even a former fan like me.

Get well soon, Lance. And do us all a favour, stay away from Formula 1. Please.

F1 Opinion