You don’t change in Aston Martin. In addition to the already confirmed Fernando Alonso, who has a contract until the end of the 2026 season, the owner of the English team, Lawrence Stroll, has also extended the agreement with his 25-year-old son Lance. Having lost some opportunities to hire quality drivers (in reality never sought), Aston Martin preferred, for obvious reasons, to keep the disappointing Stroll junior, thus leaving the 43-year-old (next July 29) Alonso with the task of bringing results. For the Spaniard, an optimal situation as since he joined Aston Martin he has consistently (and soundly) beaten Stroll.
It was thought that Lawrence Stroll would sooner or later want to strengthen his Aston Martin by hiring a reference driver in addition to the Spaniard, but in the end nepotism won. Surprising for a hugely successful businessman like Mr. Lawrence. The son had the best moments of his career in the early years of F1, placing third in Baku in 2017 with Williams and third also in Monza and Sakhir in 2020 with Racing Point (as well as poleman in Istanbul 2020), a team already owned by his father after he had taken over Force India.
In 2021, with Sebastian Vettel as his teammate at the start of the Aston Martin adventure in F1, Stroll had defended himself well, obtaining practically the same points as the four-time world champion. Then, the collapse. In 2022, a first breakaway with Vettel who “doubled” the points obtained by the Canadian. With the growth of Aston Martin’s competitiveness, in 2023 the new arrival Alonso obtained 206 points against Stroll’s 74, an abysmal difference that cost the team dearly, only fifth in the constructors’ championship when it could also aim for third place overall.
This year, with the “Verdona” having lost some performance, Alonso still has 41 points after ten races, Stroll just 17. Alonso has scored points on seven occasions, reaching Q3 seven times, Stroll has finished in the top ten four times in the race and has only made it past Q2 three times. Numbers that would hardly have allowed him to extend his contract if he were racing for any other team. Closed doors therefore for Felipe Drugovich, test driver and third driver for two years, or for Jak Crawford who had recently tested the Aston Martin.
