Aston Martin’s Success Dubbed Secondary for Lawrence Stroll After Treasured $80,000,000 Investment Starts to Reap Fruits

When you hear about the Stroll name making headlines in Formula 1, it’s usually Lawrence Stroll who makes them. Whether it be acquiring Force India and changing it to Racing Point or buying Aston Martin and bringing the name back to F1, it’s been him. After Aston Martin returned to the sport in 2021, it wasn’t competitive for two seasons. But since the start of the 2023 season, the Silverstone team has regularly competed for podiums. But with only one of its cars. And it was Lance Stroll in the other car who made recent headlines.

Fernando Alonso is one of the best drivers on the grid. Even at 41, he’s proved he has what it takes to compete at his very best, achieving six podiums in eight races. On the grid, a driver’s teammate is their biggest rival, and Alonso has made light work of outperforming Stroll this season. But Stroll brought out the big guns and returned the favor in qualifying at Austria.

Lawrence Stroll’s investment is paying dividends 

To enter F1, drivers are usually recruited after being recognized for their feeder series performances. While Lance Stroll did participate in F4 and F3, he got a free pass on F2 and got directly recruited by Williams in 2017 after his father, Lawrence Stroll, spent $80 million to secure his seat in F1. While the Canadian has had some good performances in F1, the investment his father made for his future wasn’t reaping any good benefits. But his performance during qualifying in Austria has instilled faith in his father that his investment wasn’t in vain. 

Stroll qualified in P6, just 18 milliseconds ahead of Alonso in P7. This was only the second time in the season he achieved this feat. In a YouTube live stream after the session, veteran F1 journalist Peter Windsor talked about Stroll’s showing and what it would’ve meant to his father. He said, “For him to be a little bit ahead of Fernando, it’s exactly where his father wants him to be. His father will be absolutely delighted with this, much more than if Fernando was on the front row and Lance Stoll was seventh or eighth.”

Stroll has gotten more comfortable with the car as the season has progressed, and it looks like he’s finally up to speed with Alonso. But if he feels the car has gotten better, so does Alonso, and Lance managed to out-qualify him, regardless. Windsor added, “How do you beat Fernando Alonso in a very well-balanced, good-handling Aston Martin around Austria? Not an easy thing to do. But Lance Stroll did it.”

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Lawrence Stroll is finally reaping the rewards from his $80 million investment, but he started achieving success with another one of his investments at the start of this season.

Lawrence Stroll has turned Aston Martin around

Stroll invested in Aston Martin at a time the brand was struggling. After his investment, he brought it back into F1 and enticed other companies to invest in it. And in the short time he’s been with the company, he’s helped it turn its fortunes around and thrive. And he’s done the same with the F1 team. 

With all the interest in Aston, the company received funding and investment from other big names, and Stroll put this money to good use. He spent nearly $300 million to build a new factory for the F1 team with a new wind tunnel. And considering the team was P7 in the championship last season and is now P3 (and in contention for P2), he’s helped turn the team around in a year.

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Do you think Lance Stroll can beat Fernando Alonso this season, or is that too big an ask?