Lance Stroll – Aston Martin – Bio, F1 Record, Stats and News

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Lance Stroll is the first Canadian driver to reach the F1 podium since Jacques Villeneuve, the 1997 world champion. Even if his career so far has had lots of ups and downs, much criticism and some mistakes, in 2023 he started his seventh season in F1.

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He is also set to become the Canadian racer with the most starts in F1 should he stay in the sport for some more time. In 2023, he has a golden chance of going even higher than three podiums he has so far and would set his sights in his first win with the new Aston Martin car looking strong.

A Steady Presence in the Paddock: Stroll’s Career in F1

Lance Stroll signed his first contract in F1 in 2017 with Williams, partnering Felipe Massa. It’s true that Stroll didn’t have the best of starts in his F1 career and maybe his debut in Australia 2017 came a bit too soon for him, but he proved to be a quick learner.

Having skipped the F2 ladder he started his F1 career aged 19 straight from F3 cars and found it difficult to handle the bigger and more downforce-equipped F1 cars, resulting in mistakes in two of his first three races. He took his first point finish in his home race in Montreal and in the next race, the chaotic Azerbaijan Grand Prix, he picked up his first podium with a third place finish, having lost second place on the line by Valtteri Bottas. He finished the season with some more steady points finishes and ended 12th in the standings.

In his second season, 2018, he had a new teammate in rookie Sergey Sirotkin, but Williams made steps backwards in development and Stroll managed only two points finishes, with his best race coming again in Baku with a P8. At the same time a consortium led by his multi-millionaire father, Lawrence Stroll, bought the Force India F1 Team which had entered administration. Lawrence renamed the team Racing Point and Lance joined for 2019, partnering Sergio Perez. The car was a mid-table challenger and Stroll took several points finishes, with his best finish coming in the German Grand Prix with a fourth place.

For 2020, the Racing Point team unveiled a car with big changes in design, heavily inspired by last year’s Mercedes. It proved to be a quick car and Stroll managed two more podiums, as well as his first ever pole position in mixed weather conditions in Turkey. He enjoyed his best year in F1 with, with 11th place in the championship.

In 2021, Racing Point was renamed as Aston Martin, when Lawrence Stroll bought the majority of shares of the historic British automobile. Lance got a new teammate in 4-time world champion Sebastian Vettel. But, the new Aston Martin couldn’t keep up its predecessor’s form and slipped back through the order, with Stroll’s best finish being a sixth place in Qatar.

In 2022, the car made even more backwards steps, but improved later in the season with Vettel picking a podium. As for Stroll, his highest finish was again sixth in Singapore this time. But, as it was made clear Aston Martin had already set their sights on 2023 with the team unveiling a quick car, as well as Stroll’s new teammate two-time world champion, Fernando Alonso.

Stroll’s Mega Pole Lap in Turkey 2020

Stroll had already proven his skill in changing weather conditions in Italy 2017, when he managed to qualify fourth (although he started second due to penalties) in a dry-wet Monza track. Back then some people even suggested that his rapid move from F3 to F1 cars helped him in the wet, due to him being more accustomed to driving with less downforce.

Although, three years later, this time on a quick Racing Point, he managed to put on a special qualifying performance, exceeding all expectations. The Istanbul Park track surface had been recently relayed due to the sudden return of the race in Turkey for 2020 and it was wet, creating an extra slippery track for the drivers to cope with. It was not a problem for Stroll, though, who managed to outperform the quicker cars and gave Racing Point its first ever pole position.

The Bahrain 2020 Roll-Over

One weekend after his wonder pole in Turkey, Stroll got involved in a scary accident at the Bahrain racetrack. In the third lap of the race, while fighting Daniil Kvyat’s AlphaTauri, the two cars touched and Stroll’s Racing Point got airborne, ending upside down.

Thankfully, the roll-hop and the halo did their jobs and Stroll was able to walk out of the car unscathed, although he was forced to stand in an awkward upside-down position for a little while.

Son of a Multi-Millionaire from Canada

Stroll was born in the city of Montreal in Canada. His father is Lawrence Stroll, a Canadian businessman and multi-millionaire, owner of the Aston Martin F1 team, for which Lance races. His mother is Claire-Anne Callens, a Belgian fashion designer.

Although divorced, his parents have a good relationship and have been seen together in many races, routing for Lance. Stroll has an older sister named Chloe. He is of Russian-Jewish descent, thus his birth surname is Strulovitch, which was Anglicized to Stroll to fit better with his Canadian nationality.

In a Relationship with an Italian Model

Not much in known about Stroll’s personal friendships or relationships. Currently, he is dating Italian model Sara Pagliaroli. We cannot say for sure when they started dating, but the first time they were seen together was in 2021. Sara is three years older than Lance and has worked for major famous fashion brands.

Good Salary, Lots of Sponsorship Deals for the Canadian

Stroll has a rich background from his family, but he earns a big salary in comparison to other F1 drivers of similar caliber, with an estimated $3 million per year. His net worth is around $50 million at the moment.

As the only Canadian F1 driver he also has a lot of sponsorship deals and earns a lot of money from them too. His main sponsorship deal is with construction company JCB and he also promotes the companies Bombardier, Stilo and Canadian Life.

• Full name: Lance Strulovitch (Stroll)
• DOB: 29th October 1998
• Age: 24
• Place of Birth: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
• Nationality: Canadian
• Team: Aston Martin F1 Team
• Race number: #18

Junior Career Supported By His Rich Father

Stroll started karting in Canada at the age of 10 and he won many of the early championships he has been involved in. In 2010, he signed with Ferrari Driver Academy. In 2014, he moved to Italian Formula 4 with Prema Powerteam, a team which his father Lawrence had invested in, and won the championship.

He moved in the European Formula 3 championship in 2015 and managed to win it in his second season, again with Prema, before moving to F1. Stroll has also raced twice in the 24 Hours of Daytona in 2016 and 2018, once with Chip Ganassi Racing and once with Jackie Chan DCR Jota, respectively.

2023 F1 Season – Potentially the Best One Yet for Stroll?

Aston Martin’s 2022 season hasn’t been an especially successful one, but the focus of the team for the 2023 F1 season paid dividends with the car looking quick from the moment it hit the racing track. However, Stroll was unfortunate to miss testing due to a hand injury he picked up while skiing and required surgery.

The 2023 Aston Martin car seems capable of challenging the top teams, at least in certain races. Alonso already brought the team a podium finish, but it still seems difficult to race against Red Bull for wins currently. Bookmakers give Stroll little chances of challenging for the title, with the odds being around 249/1 (250.00) for him winning the driver’s championship.

Most bookmakers tip him to finish in the top 10 though, and some of them even in the top 8. As of our own prediction, the Aston Martin looks too quick to not have both of its drivers in the top 8 come the end of the season. Stroll may not be able to quite match his champion teammate, but an eighth place finish and lots of podiums seems the most possible outcome.

Stroll gives a good fight in Bahrain with a sore hand

Lance got into the first race of the year in Bahrain after a minor surgery to his hand, but was determined to race the new competitive Aston Martin car. He fought against the pain barrier and managed to qualify a solid 8th. In the race Stroll had a fine start but in the first lap he misjudged his braking and got perilousely close to the back of teammate Fernando Alonso in turn 4, but luckily for them both no car got any damage. Aston Martin got their strategy right and later on in the race Stroll managed to catch George Russell who was exiting from the pitlane. With tyres up to temperature Stroll passed Russell in trun 4, promoted to 8th. After this point he had a quiet race, picking up just another position due to Charles Leclerc’s retirement and finished the race in 6th. Considering his injury, it was a pretty good performance from Stroll.

Engine problem ends Stroll’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix early

Stroll arrived in Jeddah a bit more fit than he was in Bahrain, so he was hoping for an even better performance. The car would certainly give him the opportunity to do so, as teammate Alonso was constantly putting great lap times in practice. Stroll managed to qualify 6th this time, but started the race in 5th, due to Leclerc’s 10 second penalty. He had a steady start to the race and completed hist first stop without losing any positions. Although, some laps later Stroll got a message on the radio from his engineer to stop the car, on what was later said to be an engine issue, leading to his first retirement of the year.

Last lap red flag saves Stroll’s afternoon in Australia

With more points in the bag Stroll arrived in Albert Park, hoping for more. In qualifying he benefited from Sergio Perez’s early exit, but could only manage 6th. Still, it was fine grid position, but on the start of the race he found himself side by side with Charles Leclerc and in turn 3 the pair touched, with Leclerc who was on the outside getting beached into the gravel. The crash was considered to be a “racing incident” by the stewards and Stroll didn’t take any penalty. He lost a place from Alex Albon, though, after the crash, but he quickly took the place back, when Albon crashed out of the race. When the safety car came out Sainz and Russell both pitted for new tyres and Stroll got promoted to 4th, but soon the red flag came out, meaning that Stroll would get a free change of tyres. In the restart Stroll got a poor start and lost positions to Sainz and Gasly. He remained in 6th position, until late in the race, when another, controversial, red flag came out after Kevin Magnussen’s start. In the second restart he managed to avoid the first lap chaos and was up to third, but in turn 3 he couldn’t stop the car from running in the gravel, possibly with his brakes cold. He rejoined out of the points, but he got saved when the race officials restored the positions as they were in the restart for all drivers still in the race, which meant that Stroll gained positions instead of losing and he cruised behind the safety car to take the 4th place.

Decent points in unfavourable Baku track for Aston Martin

Although Lance has good memories of the Baku track, which is the track he took his first F1 podium in 2017, it’s a track that isn’t a great fit for the draggy Aston Martin, with its long straights and quick corners. Aston Martin’s car is a very good one, though, and Lance was hoping to take the most out of the sprint weekend, now fully fit. In Friday’s qualifying for Sunday’s race, though, Stroll didn’t have a good session, managing only 9th. He wanted to put that behind in Sprint day in Saturday with a strong performance, but the result was exactly the same in qualifying with 9th place again, with both Aston Martins getting outqualified by William’s Alex Albon. In the sprint race, Stroll had an average showing, managing to pass Albon, but not making any further progress towards his other opponets. He finished the sprint in 8th, picking up 1 point. In the main race, Stroll’s fight was with the two Mercedes and maybe Carlos Sainz. His teammate got a great start from 8th, but Lance couldn’t follow him. He managed to pass easily Yuki Tsunoda and Lando Norris who qualified better than him, but other than that he kept a steady pace and managed to keep a good distance to George Russell behind him. He finished the race in 7th place. 

A nightmare weekend in Miami

Stroll arrived in Miami, a track relatively close to his homeland, Canada, hoping for some more good points, but instead ended up having a torrid time. It wasn’t a spring weekend this time, meaning that both Lance and the team had more time to work on setup and pace. But, it didn’t prove to be helpful as Stroll suffered Aston Martin’s first Q1 elimination, while teammate Alonso was on the front raw of the grid. He qualified in 18th place, with a lot of ground to make up in the race. He didn’t win much in the start and got stuck in a DRS-train for pretty much the entirety of the race, picking up some places via strategy, but not enough to leave with points. He ended up in 12th, which marked the first time an Aston Martin would finish outside the points in 2023.

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