Lance Stroll, Max Verstappen, Yuki Tsunoda, generic, 2024 — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 Analysis

The F1 driver with a LIFETIME contract on the grid

Aston Martin's driver lineup has been called into question this year

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Thursday 24 July 2025 10:56 Updated: 11:17

Contracts in F1 are a funny thing, with some drivers on long-term, multi-year deals and others, like Kimi Antonelli, only signed up for a single season.

But there's one driver on the F1 grid who can seemingly drive as long as he wants, on a rolling contract with his Aston Martin team.

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While it might seem Fernando Alonso will never retire, it's his team-mate who doesn't seem to have any pressure on his seat at the Silverstone-based outfit, with Lance Stroll being the son of team owner Lawrence Stroll.

Stroll junior is technically speaking contracted until the end of the 2026 season, but that is not a hard deadline for him to impress, as it is for most drivers on the grid.

The Canadian racer suffered disastrous 2023 and 2024 seasons compared to his team-mate Alonso, but neither of those were enough for Aston Martin to consider swapping in their talented young reserve driver Felipe Drugovich.

While his performances have improved in 2025 with 20 points from the first 12 races, it is unlikely that Stroll is the driver who can fulfil Aston Martin's ambitions of becoming world champions in the future.

Lance Stroll's performances have improved in 2025

However, should a rumoured swoop for either Max Verstappen or George Russell materialise after the 2026 season, two-time champion Alonso would be the driver more favoured to lose his seat at the team.

Should Stroll one day choose to step down from his seat with Aston Martin, he would surely be given a prominent role in the team by his father - meaning he may have a job for life at the Silverstone outfit!

When will Stroll be replaced at Aston Martin?

The nature of Stroll's rolling contract means that there is no definitive answer to this question - he can basically race as long as he wants to.

However, the 26-year-old has often adopted a rather detached attitude in 2025, not particularly being willing to give full answers in interviews, and appearing indifferent to the world of F1.

When he was forced to miss a race in Spain due to ongoing issues with his wrist, it was thought that he would be over the moon to make his comeback later in the same month at his home race in Canada.

However, in his pre-race weekend press conference, he did not seem to be particularly excited about being back in F1, and Sky Sports F1 commentator David Croft even picked up on that fact.

If Stroll is able to race for as long as he wants, that may well just be until the end of this current contract period - the end of the 2026 season - particularly if the team don't provide him with a car capable of challenging for podiums in 2026.

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