Lance Stroll leaves F1 behind for shot at winning a race

Stroll, Bahrain, socials — Photo: © IMAGO

Aston Martin

Lance Stroll leaves F1 behind for shot at winning a race

Lance Stroll's F1 2026 woes have pushed him to another racing series

Kerry Violet F1 News Editor

F1 editor and journalist covering motorsport since 2024.

Saturday 11 April 2026 17:42

Lance Stroll is waving goodbye to Formula 1 this weekend in pursuit of what Aston Martin cannot give him in the pinnacle of motorsport; a race win.

The Canadian driver is currently competing in his 10th season in F1, but despite his career spanning over a decade, he is yet to achieve a grand prix victory.

In contrast, it didn't take long for Stroll to pick up the first F1 podium of his career at the 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, doing so just eight races into his maiden season with Williams.

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As a result, he became the youngest rookie and second youngest driver in history at the time to claim a top-three finish, and the now 27-year-old went on to take two more podiums in F1 with Racing Point during the 2020 campaign.

But the son of Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll hasn't come close to a podium in years, with his best finish racing under the Aston Martin name being P4 at the 2023 Australian GP.

After a disastrous start to the 2026 campaign for he and team-mate Fernando Alonso, Stroll is now looking to bring glory back to the Aston Martin name, taking to Paul Ricard this weekend to drive for Comtoyou Racing in an Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 EVO.

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Stroll claims 'winning is possible' ahead of GT3 debut

The F1 2026 calendar has been forced into a five-week break after both of this month's Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix were cancelled due to ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

But this may turn out to be a good thing for Stroll, and not just because it provides Aston Martin with a much-needed opportunity to work on their many issues within both the chassis of their AMR26 car and their Honda power unit.

Stroll, who is yet to finish an F1 grand prix across the opening three race weekends of 2026, is now available to make his GT3 debut in the opening round of the GT World Challenge Europe series at Paul Ricard on Saturday, an opportunity that he believes could see him win a race this year.

Speaking ahead of his switch to GT3 on the weekend that was originally set to host the Bahrain GP, Stroll told the GT World Challenge Europe website: "In Formula 1, you don’t always have the opportunity to win. Here, it’s very competitive, but even if it’s our first time and we lack experience, if everything comes together – good setup, good feeling – winning is possible.

"That doesn’t really exist in Formula 1. That’s also a big motivation for me to be here."

F1 Aston Martin Lance Stroll Paul Ricard