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Lance Stroll will continue in F1 for an eighth season in 2024 despite the apparent gulf in performance this year to Fernando Alonso.
It has been a difficult year for Stroll, sparked by a pre-season cycling accident that resulted in him breaking both wrists.
Stroll conjured a remarkable comeback for the opening race of the campaign in Bahrain where he managed to finish a creditable sixth.
That, however, has been just his second-best result of the year – only a crash-strewn Australian Grand Prix was better in which he was fourth – as he has been comprehensively out-scored by two-time F1 champion Alonso.
Stroll is six places and a staggering 121 points behind Alonso, who has scored seven podiums, including finishing three times as a runner-up, leading to question marks about the Canadian driver’s future.
With Aston Martin 40 points behind Mercedes in the constructors’ championship, the theory is that even if Stroll’s points gap to Alonso was half of its current deficit, the team would be in a strong second position in the standings.
Asked by Speedcafe whether Stroll’s future was guaranteed for 2024, team principal Mike Krack said: “We don’t have any debate at the moment. We will be fine next year with the two drivers.”
Krack has dismissed the notion of there being “a marked gap in performance” between Alonso and Stroll, who has endured his fair share of misfortune this season.
Instead, Krack said: “There’s a marked gap in points. It’s important to separate between the two.
“As a team, we are analysing the season, from the perspectives of both drivers, and as a team, we need to do a much, much better job on that side of the garage (Stroll), come race strategy, but also with reliability issues, which are always hitting that car.
“So it is something we need to do much, much better.”
Krack referred to the Dutch GP as a prime example of where Aston Martin can improve on Stroll’s behalf.
“We have to look at the strategy we adopted in Zandvoort,” said Krack. “Lance had a strong weekend up until then.
“But as a team, we have to take responsibility for a call that was just not decisive enough, which ruined his race at the end of the day.
“We need to get better in tough situations. Obviously, it doesn’t help him, but as a team, we should have done a better job there.”
Krack additionally refuted the notion there was a characteristic of the AMR23 that Stroll was uncomfortable with.
“I don’t think so,” he said. “When you look at the last qualifying sessions, qualifying one in Zandvoort, for example, there was nothing between them.
“So I don’t think there is any particular characteristic that will be different for him than for Fernando.”
Prior to the race at Zandvoort, wild rumours emerged that Stroll was poised to give up F1 to become a professional tennis player, speculation he laughed off.
For now, Krack does not see a situation where Stroll will be calling it a day any time soon.
“We have seen over the last weeks a very hard-working driver, trying to analyse every little detail where he can improve, being in the simulator driving a lot,” he said. “There’s nothing that goes in that direction.”
