Lance Stroll responds as wild F1 retirement rumour returns live on air

Lance Stroll has firmly denied the claim made by a Brazilian journalist on live TV that he previously wanted to retire from Formula 1.

Stroll has faced a unique challenge throughout his Formula 1 career when looking to silence critics, having spent a large portion of it racing for a team owned by his father, Lawrence Stroll. Rumours of his impending retirement have come and gone, with Stroll again shutting down one which dates back two seasons.

Lance Stroll was not forced to continue racing for Aston Martin

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

Stroll arrived on the F1 scene as a teenager with Williams in 2017. He went on to join his father’s Racing Point squad in 2019, where he has remained ever since. The team morphed into Aston Martin from 2021.

Stroll has shown flashes of brilliance, such as taking pole position at the 2020 Turkish Grand Prix, and has three podium finishes to his name. However, his broader performance level across his career has not been enough to convince everyone that he deserves his seat based on talent and results alone.

As such, any rough patch has often fuelled talk that Stroll will quit Formula 1. A bizarre switch to tennis was even mooted at one point.

Across the Dutch Grand Prix weekend, it was suggested live on air by a Brazilian journalist that Stroll had asked to quit Aston Martin and F1, twice. It was said that both times his father had denied that request.

But, when the rumour was put to Stroll by PlanetF1.com ahead of the Italian Grand Prix, he brushed it off as nonsense.

“I had no plans on doing that,” he insisted. “Not sure where that came from.

“I guess he needed something to say! I had no plans on it.”

Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso head-to-head in F1 2025

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head qualifying statistics between team-mates

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates

Stroll is piecing together arguably his best season yet in F1 2025. With 32 points on the board, he sits 11th in the Drivers’ Championship, a position and two points ahead of his two-time World Champion teammate Fernando Alonso.

On a run of three seventh-place results in his last four races, Stroll will look to continue his strong form at Monza this weekend. It is an iconic track which he has gone well at in the past, making the podium in 2020, and front row of the grid in 2017.

“Good memories from ’17 and ’20, for sure,” he acknowledged. “It’s a track I always enjoy coming back to.

“The track, the fans, the energy around the whole weekend, it’s very special. It’s very unique. The Italian motorsport fans are special, for sure.

“Also, you know, growing up and go karting, spending a lot of time in Italy, it kind of feels like coming back to the roots when you come back and race in Italy.”

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