Lance Stroll’s struggles continue this season as he only managed to secure P9 in his home race this past weekend. As the 24-year-old continues to underperform, former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher believes that Aston Martin owner Lawrence Stroll could replace his son with star Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc.
Schumacher made these remarks after slamming Lance for his massive underperformance this season. Lance’s underperformance is evident as his results have been extremely poor when compared to Aston Martin teammate Fernando Alonso.
The Spaniard has already registered six podiums from the first eight races of the 2023 season and is getting closer and closer to getting his first win of this year. In stark contrast, Lance has failed to finish on the podium even once this season. In fact, the Canadian driver has just one top-five finish this season, and that was a fourth-place finish in Australia.
Schumacher expects Leclerc to replace struggling Stroll at Aston Martin
While giving his analysis on Sky Germany (as quoted by gpfans.com), Ralf Schumacher not only tipped Charles Leclerc to leave Ferrari but also gave his take on where the Monegasque could head next. After ruling out Mercedes and Red Bull as options, the German stated that the team Leclerc most likely could move to next season is Aston Martin.
“I believe a strong candidate (for Charles Leclerc) is also Aston Martin, as they also need to look around. Fernando Alonso will have another year after that. Who knows, [Lawrence Stroll’s] son doesn’t fulfil the season goals. They may need to bring in another strong driver for the future, building alongside Fernando Alonso,” explained Schumacher.
Rumors are also growing around Leclerc’s future, as many believe that the Monegasque is becoming increasingly frustrated with Ferrari’s lack of form. Even though the 25-year-old has stated on various occasions that his dream is to win with Ferrari, many believe that a promising project at another team could convince him to leave the Italian outfit.
Lawrence Stroll set Lance Stroll an ambitious target for the Canadian GP
Coming back to Lance Stroll, the Canadian finds himself under more and more pressure recently after his father, Lawrence Stroll, also set him an ambitious target for the race in Montreal last weekend. Lawrence stated that he wants his Aston Martin team to target a double podium finish in Canada.
While one-half of the garage with Fernando Alonso fulfilled their target, Lance failed to fulfill his. Even though Lawrence may continue to show patience to comfort his son, there is a possibility that, at one stage, he may run out of it.
There could be a point when Lawrence himself needs to put the interests of the Aston Martin F1 team in front of his son to please his sponsors. And that could be a point that opens the door for other star drivers such as Charles Leclerc to join the British outfit.
