‘Can Lance Stroll do that?’ – Ex-F1 driver questions Stroll’s contribution to Aston Martin

Showing “little” in the way of development, former F1 driver Christian Danner has questioned whether Lance Stroll is the right team-mate for Fernando Alonso going forward.

Four races into the new F1 season, Stroll’s second as Alonso’s team-mate, and already questions are being asked about the Canadian.

‘The question is of course justified, can Lance Stroll do that?’

Scoring just nine points to Alonso’s 24, Stroll is once again being schooled by the double World Champion who announced on Thursday that he had signed a new multi-year deal with Aston Martin.

The team made no mention of his team-mate but Stroll is expected, unless he makes the call to quit, to continue in 2025 given his father Lawrence owns the team.

Danner doesn’t believe that is the right move for the team who last season finished fifth in the Constructors’ Championship but would’ve been fourth had Stroll scored even half Alonso’s points, P3 had he matched him.

“Lance Stroll is definitely not very consistently fast, although he’s decently quick every now and then,” the 73-year-old told Motorsport Magazin.

“Aston Martin has worked its way out of the midfield to be near the front. If you have a McLaren with you, if you want to attack a Norris and a Piastri, then you don’t just need one top driver, but two.

“The question is of course justified, can Lance Stroll do that?

“Because he’s been driving long enough and he now knows the car inside and out. There’s a little bit of upward development missing somewhere.”

PlanetF1.com recommends

The 11 drivers out of contract at the end of the F1 2024 season

F1 schedule: When is the next F1 race and where is it being held?

Could Lawrence Stroll sell up if Lance quits?

Although Stroll is in his sixth season with the Silverstone-based team, it was suggested as recently as Japan by the BBC’s Harry Benjamin that he is only holding on to his Aston Martin seat because his father Lawrence Stroll owns the team.

However, Danner wonders if Stroll Snr would still want to be in the F1 business if his son quit.

“If the son no longer drives, we can still wind it down or sell the team again,” he said. “I believe that the combination of father and son is essential there.

“The only thing that can happen is that Lance, who has never given the impression that he particularly enjoys being a racing driver, at some point comes up with the idea of ​​saying, let’s leave it alone.

“And then it could of course also be the case that dad loses interest.”

Read next: Five biggest F1 2024 surprises: Big McLaren exit, post-Steiner Haas thrive and more shocks