Villeneuve: Lawrence Stroll is not one to admit defeat [with Lance]

Aston Martin is the by-product of Stroll Senior bulldozing his son into F1 by annexing every team and teammate needed to have his son live the dream at any cost. Big money was spent prepping Lance to be an F1 driver, some say the budget to get young Stroll into F1 was north of $100-million, an that's over a decade ago.

After the junior series invasion by the Strolls and entry into F1 via Williams, came the 'saving' of Force India. Lawrence Stroll then turned Vijay Mallya's old team into Racing Point for Lance to do continue to do his thing. F1 Stats show that was probably his best phase in the top flight. Thereafter emerged Aston Martin F1 Team which we have today.

A forgettable couple of seasons with Sebastian Vettel deteriorating race by race from F1 driver to bunny-hugger until he was let go. Despite the German's form at the time being his worst ever during his illustrious career in the top flight, his teammate Lance did not get the better of him as Charles Leclerc had at Ferrari.

Vettel was replaced by Fernando Alonso, who ditched Alpine to join Aston Martin and promptly take them to a succession of podiums as they found a sweet spot in their package. But it turned out to be a fluke. A barrage of updates and upgrades last year actually 'downgraded' the AMR23 which suggested mass befuddlement among their engineers.

In 2024, Aston Martin still remain in Confusion-land with their cars nowhere near F1 podium contenders as they were last year at this point in the season. But even when the car was good as Alonso demonstrated, Stroll struggled in the other car. And quite frankly, with a below-par car which the AMR24 is, nothing has really changed.

As for 25-year-old Stroll's future, Villeneuve is adamant it is assured no matter what: "A billionaire father can stick with his son for as long as he likes! That was the only reason for getting into F1.

"Lawrence is not one to admit defeat. He will fight it until he is proven right. He will not give up. That is not a bad trait. That is what made him so successful, getting hold of brands. Making them valuable and selling them when they were worth a ton more. He is a master of that.

"Now it is a little more personal because his son is involved. However, Aston Martin seems to be going backwards. I don’t know why because they are spending money and they have changed the design team.

"Alonso is extremely good at getting the most out of what is available. They are having to regroup because it is a great brand," reckoned 53-year-old Villeneuve.

The 53rd Canadian Grand Prix takes place this weekend, for the 43rd time in Montreal where Gilles Villeneuve won the first race at the venue on the Ile Notre-Dame back in 1978. The track is now named after him.

Gilles' World Champ son Jacques lamented the fact he never won on home soil: "It was a real shame I didn’t win the Canadian GP, it would have been special to have won it

"In 1996, I missed pole by a sniff and that spoiled the race for me. I went for the opposite strategy to Damon and it all depended on getting a better start than Damon. I didn’t and that was it. It was a close call and I came second. In 1997, I messed up. We were easily quicker than [Michael] Schumacher and on lap 2, I wasn’t even pushing. I was catching him easily and thinking, ‘Oh Wow!’

"Somehow at the last chicane he went on the curb, put a bit of dirt on the track just when I got there and I went a little sideways. I wasn’t stressed, my heart rate was low. That was what made it all the more frustrating. I got caught out. We were miles quicker.

"I really wasn’t proud of that one. I beat myself up. Then you have to do the walk of shame! You keep your helmet on for a while longer! Not winning in Montreal is not a source of sorrow as much for my family.

"More the fact it was my home race in front of my home crowd. It would have been special to have won it," admits Villeneuve, whose career spanned 163 Grand Prix starts, from 1996 to 2006.