Montreal F1 racer aims for top result at Canadian Grand Prix

Lance Stroll feels she is finally driving a car that can rival the best on home soil.

The 24-year-old from Montreal will enter the Canadian Grand Prix this Sunday for an Aston Martin team that is third in the Formula 1 constructors’ standings and is seen by many as the second best team behind Red Bull this year.

“Yes, it sure is,” Stroll said when asked if it was his first time driving a good car in Montreal. “Definitely more opportunities this year than maybe in other years.”

Stroll’s best finish in four Canadian GPs is ninth (2017, 2019). He has had the best start of his career this year, currently eighth in the drivers’ standings.

Despite that, and despite the quality of his car, Stroll has yet to prove he can reach its full potential. Meanwhile, teammate Fernando Alonso.

The 41-year-old veteran and two-time world champion is enjoying a career resurgence in his first season with Aston Martin, outclassing Stroll with five podiums to nil and 99 points to 35.

Alonso is third in the drivers’ standings behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez, and his success puts additional pressure on Stroll to deliver results.

Aston Martin team boss Mike Krack said he believes those will come.

“First, he needs a bit more luck, he didn’t have that,” said Krack, pointing to a mistake made by the team in Miami and some damage to the vehicle in Monaco. “We have a car that can do it, and it will do it. So I think if the car is there, it will be there.”

Krack also believes that Stroll has not been given enough credit for returning so quickly from injury early this season and making the best of a bad situation.

Stroll missed pre-season testing after crashing his bike during practice in Spain on February 18, breaking both wrists. However, he recovered in time to race in the season opener in Bahrain.

“I think it showed a side of Lance that maybe wasn’t known about. He’s a fantastic fighter,” said Krack. “It would have been easy to say, ‘I’ll wait three races, I’ll put everything back in place and I’ll be back’… the fact that he really tried his best to get back in the car, despite all pain, and I can assure you he was in a lot of pain, shows what kind of fighter he is.

“I’m not sure we’re aware of what kind of performance that was…I think it’s a great honor to take home the points in these (early) races, despite these injuries.”

Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll of Canada waits to address the media at the Canadian Grand Prix on Thursday 15 June 2023 in Montreal. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

Alonso echoed that sentiment, adding that Stroll’s commitment to returning shows his passion for the sport.

The Spaniard said the next step in his teammate’s career is to improve his consistency.

“I think Lance is showing the speed in the car,” he said. “I think we’ve seen sparks from Lance a lot in the past in qualifying and races…

“But like I said, with the motivation, the commitment that he has in the team that Aston Martin is now building. I think it’s only a matter of time that will come.”

Although Stroll and Alonso are far apart in the standings, the two drivers seem relatively close to the track. Their relationship dates back to 2012 when then-Ferrari driver Alonso Stroll, who was in the academy, met at an event in Montreal.

Krack says both drivers help each other, whether through radio communication or in debriefing sessions, to better understand the car.

“They try to encourage each other,” he said. “It’s a maturity between these two drivers that I haven’t seen very often in drivers in my entire career, because they are normally very selfish.”

Stroll, who says he is still suffering from his pre-season injury, finished sixth at the Spanish Grand Prix, beating Alonso for the first time this season.

Now he will try to build on that result and do something special in Montreal, where no Canadian has won since Gilles Villeneuve in 1978.

“It’s a race I have a lot of memories of, I have a lot of memories of coming here as a kid watching (Michael) Schumacher and even Fernando,” said Stroll.

“It would be very special (to reach the podium). A dream come true.”

This report from The Canadian Press was first published on June 16, 2023.