Beside Pictures of Girls, the “Red Car” Dream Catapulted Billionaire Lawrence Stroll Into a Love Affair With Racing

Lawrence Stroll has built quite a reputation ever since joining Formula 1 as a team owner. Ever since taking on Force India, Stroll rebranded the team thrice, from Racing Point Force India, to simply Racing Point and now Aston Martin. He carries a persona of a result-oriented businessman in the paddock. But how did his love for racing and cars start?

Force India was going through its toughest times when they were ready to file for bankruptcy. That is when the Lawrence Stroll-led consortium came into the picture. The Canadian took over the team which is now known as Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team.

Lawrence Stroll revealed his racing past

Lance Stroll may have made it to the pinnacle of motor racing, but he is not the first racer from his family. His father Lawrence Stroll appeared for an interview with F1’s Beyond the Grid last year where he discussed his racing past. Lawrence also opened up on how the love for cars started early.

He told, “It was like, running little boys growing up – cars and girls. Picture of a car on the wall, picture of a girl on the wall.”

When asked whether the car that adorned his room’s wall was red, he answered, “Yeah, it was a red car. It was a red car in the beginning, some green cars came after.”

Speaking on his racing past, Lawrence told, “I raced for about 15-18 years. I began to race in a Ferrari challenge, then I did what was called Grand-Am in the States, which you probably see over here. I did a lot of that, lot of historic racing.”

“Ferrari Challenge I won a few years in a row. Grand-Am, I think we won one year. I think it was twelve races back then. So, we had some good fun.”

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Lawrence’s interest in racing has only increased ever since stepping foot into Formula 1. He recently raised his share in Aston Martin with a massive $2 million acquisition.

Lawrence Stroll ups his stake in Aston Martin

Lawrence’s latest investment into Aston Martin saw his share in the company rise to 23%. Before this, he was the owner of 19% of the company’s stake.

Morningstar UK reported, “Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC–Gaydon, Warwickshire-based luxury car maker–Executive Chair Lawrence Stroll buys 1.7 million shares via Yew Tree Overseas Ltd at prices ranging from GBP0.90 ($1.09) to GBP1.29 ($1.56), worth GBP1.8 million ($2.17 million), on Wednesday to Friday last week and on Monday.”

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Aston Martin has shown their commitment to excel through their signings. They brought Fernando Alonso to replace Sebastian Vettel on the team. Moreover, they have brought Red Bull’s chief of aerodynamics Dan Fallows on board.