Lance Stroll lap time emerges after GT3 qualifying debut at Paul Ricard

Lance Stroll and Co. qualified P11 in class at Paul Ricard, and 15th overall, in what is Stroll’s first GT3 race weekend.

Stroll set a fastest lap overall of a 1:54.472, just five thousandths slower than the time set by one of his teammates, Roberto Merhi, a former F1 driver with Marussia. It was Aston Martin F1 junior Mari Boya who set the team’s best time, and by some margin, clocking a 1:53.676.

Lance Stroll completes first GT3 qualifying

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With the Formula 1 action paused in April, Stroll decided to switch things up a little by making his GT3 debut.

Stroll has prior experience of sports car racing, having competed in the 24 Hours of Daytona in 2016 and 2018. This though, is the Canadian racer’s maiden voyage into GT3 competition.

Stroll, alongside his teammates Roberto Merhi and Mari Boya, are manning the #18 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo.

It is the opening round of the 2026 GT World Challenge Europe season.

15th is where the trio classified at the end of qualifying, which was 11th-best in their Pro class.

Qualifying is split into three segments, one for each member of the line-up. Stroll went in round two, and clocked a best lap of a 1:54.472 at Circuit Paul Ricard, the former host of the French Grand Prix.

It was Boya – who competes in Formula 2 with Prema as part of the Aston Martin driver development programme – who delivered the #18 entry’s best time of a 1:53.676, eight tenths up on Stroll.

This is Boya’s first experience of sports car racing.

The combined average time for the trio was a 1:54.205, placing them 15th in the classification.

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Mercedes-AMG Team Mann-Filter claimed pole position for the upcoming six-hour night race.

Part of that line-up is Lucas Auer, who will partner four-time World Champion Max Verstappen in the upcoming 24 Hours of Nurburgring qualifiers.

The Verstappen Racing trio of Jules Gounon, Daniel Juncadella and Chris Lulham – also entered into the Pro class at Paul Ricard – qualified P8, just under four-tenths up on Stroll’s team.

Stroll confirmed ahead of the race weekend that he had spoken with Verstappen prior to signing up for his GT3 debut.

Stroll also revealed that Aston Martin’s difficult start to F1 2026 played a role in his decision.

Stroll is yet to finish a grand prix in 2026. Aston Martin is waiting for its first point.

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