“It’s Not a Fair Fight”: George Russell Once Got Irked With Mercedes Helping Lance Stroll

There is no secret that Lance Stroll, since the beginning, had humungous backing from his billionaire father. In 2016, Lawrence Stroll, a Canadian businessman, entered Formula 3 to make his son conquer the series.

And apparently, Lawrence gave it all to ensure his son’s victory against the likes of George Russell and Lando Norris in the feeder series. And all the efforts were successful, as the Aston Martin superstar won the championship that year.

But with greater money comes a greater car. Russell learned this lesson the hard way that year when Mercedes reportedly supplied superior engines to Lance, which allegedly boosted his chances in the championship.

George Russell got irritated with Lance Stroll getting ‘superior engines’

According to Business F1’s February edition, Lance allegedly received blueprint engines from Mercedes, the most dominant engines back then. Added to favorable strategies by Prema, nothing could have stopped the young Canadian driver.

“It’s not a fair fight,” Russell’s famous words from that year’s F3 competition. Though, the source of this information claims it’s not sure whether Lance received an advantage or not.

However, he ensured his F3 championship victory with over four races to go. To further assert his dominance, he won the last five races of the season in a row.

Fernando Alonso calls him a championship talent

A large section of F1 fans and experts accuse Lance of being a pay driver and someone not worthy of being there. However, at the start of the season, his new teammate Fernando Alonso endorsed his infamous teammate as a championship-winning talent.

His comments actually sparked some eyeballs in the F1 fraternity. But for a long time, Lance hasn’t made a wrong step. In fact, his 2023 campaign has been nothing less than impressive.

During the winter testing, he was ruled out of the Bahrain Grand Prix with a wrist injury, and even Saudi Arabian GP seemed doubtful. Yet, amidst pain, the 24-year-old driver appeared at the paddock in Bahrain right before the first free practice session.

Without having any miles on the new AMR23 and with excruciating injury, he brought in P6. This year’s Aston Martin car is impressive, as it has got three consecutive podiums for Alonso. But Lance is yet to find that success with his new car.

But for the father-son duo, the aspirations are not limited till here. For them, especially for Stroll senior, the championship win is the limit, and he is on the right trajectory.