Lance Stroll is a Canadian Formula 1 driver, born 29 October 1998 in Montreal, Quebec (registered at birth as Lance Strulovitch). He is the son of Lawrence Stroll, the billionaire businessman and Executive Chairman who owns the Aston Martin F1 team. ¹

Now into the fourth year of his partnership with Fernando Alonso, 2026 is Stroll's tenth season in Formula 1, and he remains a contracted driver as the team works through the most demanding rebuild of his career. ²

“Aston Martin's 2026 campaign, its first as a Honda works team and Adrian Newey's first season designing for the squad, has been a struggle.”

Early life & junior career

Stroll grew up around motorsport and was signed to the Ferrari Driver Academy as a teenager. He climbed the single-seater ladder with strong financial backing, winning the 2014 Italian Formula 4 Championship with seven victories, then taking the 2015 Toyota Racing Series title in New Zealand, before dominating the 2016 FIA Formula 3 European Championship with 14 wins and a points total that left him well clear of his nearest rival. That title earned him a fast-tracked promotion to Formula 1. ¹

Formula 1 debut and early highlights

He made his F1 debut with Williams at the 2017 Australian Grand Prix aged 18. Later that season he took a maiden podium with third place at the 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, becoming — at 18 years and 239 days — the youngest rookie ever to finish on an F1 podium. In 2020, driving for Racing Point, he claimed his only pole position to date in a rain-hit qualifying session at the Turkish Grand Prix, converting raw wet-weather pace into a front-row start. ¹

Racing Point to Aston Martin

Stroll moved from Williams to Racing Point in 2019 — the team his father's consortium had rescued from the financial collapse of Force India in 2018 — and stayed on as it was rebranded Aston Martin in 2021. His three career podiums came at Azerbaijan in 2017, then Italy and the Sakhir Grand Prix in 2020, the latter two during a strong run in the pink Racing Point. His best championship result remains 10th, achieved in 2023 during Alonso's resurgent first year at the team. ¹

2025 season

2025 was a frustrating year for the whole team as Aston Martin slipped to seventh in the Constructors' Championship, with neither driver a regular points-scorer. Even so, Stroll produced several solid drives — including sixth in Australia and a trio of seventh places at the British, Hungarian and Dutch Grands Prix — and recorded his best points share against Alonso since the pair became teammates, even though he was heavily out-qualified across the season. ³

2026 season

Aston Martin's 2026 campaign, its first as a Honda works team and Adrian Newey's first season designing for the squad, has been a struggle. The AMR26 has been hampered by power-unit vibration problems; in Australia Stroll managed only around 15 consecutive laps before the issue became severe, and neither Aston Martin finished the opening rounds in Australia or China. ⁴ Stroll has publicly acknowledged the difficulties, saying that nearly a decade in the sport has taught him to keep perspective and that the team is "not quitting" during a long rebuild. ²

Driving style & character

Stroll is at his strongest in mixed and wet conditions, where his 2020 Turkey pole and several of his standout drives have come, and he is a reliable points-scorer when the car is competitive. He has, however, spent his entire career under unusual scrutiny because his father owns the team, and he is often measured directly against one of the greatest drivers of the era in Alonso — a comparison that flatters few. ^{1 3}

Bottom line

Stroll is a capable racer with genuine wet-weather ability and a decade of top-flight experience, even if the family ownership of his team means his results are always weighed extra hard. As Aston Martin works through the 2026 reset, he provides continuity alongside Alonso while the team chases competitiveness under the new rules. ²