'Lance Stroll doesn't belong in F1' - Pundit launches scathing assessment of Aston Martin driver

F1 News & Gossip

'Lance Stroll doesn't belong in F1' - Pundit launches scathing assessment of Aston Martin driver

Lance Stroll was outqualified at all 24 events in 2025 by team-mate Fernando Alonso

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Sunday 14 December 2025 15:43

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Former F1 racer Ralf Schumacher has said that Lance Stroll's performances are 'no longer acceptable'.

Stroll has been in F1 since 2017, claiming three podiums in those nine full seasons. Since 2021, he has been driving for the team owned by his father Lawrence Stroll, Aston Martin.

The Canadian racer has spent the last three seasons racing alongside two-time world champion Fernando Alonso at Aston Martin, being vastly outperformed by the 44-year-old Spaniard in all three of those seasons.

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In 2025, Stroll did manage to score 33 points for Aston Martin, but was outqualified by Alonso at all 24 grands prix on the calendar, a staggeringly poor statistic for a driver who now has nine seasons of experience in the sport.

Stroll is contracted with Aston Martin until the end of 2026, but Sky Germany pundit Schumacher has said that he doesn't understand how Stroll still has a seat, despite the form of other drivers in junior series, including newly-crowned F2 champion Leonardo Fornaroli.

"Strictly speaking, this is no longer acceptable," Schumacher told the Backstage Boxengasse podcast.

"Frankly, when I see how well the Formula 2 champion has done, he deserves a thousand times more to drive such a car," he said, referring to Fornaroli.

"I'm curious to see what will happen, because even Lawrence Stroll can't keep ignoring this problem. He absolutely doesn't belong in Formula 1."

Will Aston Martin ditch Stroll?

Aston Martin are a highly ambitious outfit, and want to be challenging for world championship titles in the near future.

However, you'd think it would be hard to do that with Stroll on board, while Alonso is now 44 years of age.

Therefore, the team may be looking to change up their driver lineup following the end of the 2026 season, when both Stroll and Alonso are due to be out of contract.

Rumours have linked Aston Martin with the driver signing of four-time world champion Max Verstappen, while Yuki Tsunoda no longer has a seat after being axed by Red Bull, and Aston Martin's Honda partnership may make the Japanese racer a tantalising prospect.

Either way, they will probably wait to see what Alonso's plans are for beyond 2026 before making any decisions, but new team principal Adrian Newey will be looking to construct a championship-winning team.

Formula 1 Teams and Drivers 2026
Team	Drivers
McLaren	Lando Norris	Oscar Piastri
Mercedes	George Russell	Kimi Antonelli
Red Bull	Max Verstappen	Isack Hadjar
Ferrari	Charles Leclerc	Lewis Hamilton
Williams	Alex Albon	Carlos Sainz
Racing Bulls	Liam Lawson	Arvid Lindblad
Aston Martin	Fernando Alonso	Lance Stroll
Alpine	Pierre Gasly	Franco Colapinto
Haas	Oliver Bearman	Esteban Ocon
Audi	Nico Hulkenberg	Gabriel Bortoleto
Cadillac	Sergio Perez	Valtteri Bottas

REVEALED: Who are F1's richest team?

Written by

Sam Cook - Digital Journalist

Sam Cook is a talented young sports journalist and social media professional who now specialises in Formula 1, having previously worked as a football journalist and a local news reporter for a variety of different brands.

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F1 Aston Martin Lance Stroll Ralf Schumacher