Ocon’s Comments on Lance Stroll’s ‘Passion’ for F1 Amid Rumours
Jun.12 – Aston Martin has moved to play down rumours that Lance Stroll’s days in a green Formula 1 car are numbered.
Rumours suggest the reason the 26-year-old sat out the Spanish GP and underwent another round of wrist surgery afterwards was due to a garage tantrum.
The team denied it, and Aston Martin will be back to a two-car operation this weekend in Montreal. It follows “some laps” in the last couple of days in an older F1 car at Paul Ricard.
“Lance is feeling fit and healthy,” the Silverstone based outfit reports.
However, Stroll’s injury episode re-fired speculation about his future, with many believing his father Lawrence – the team owner – may be running out of excuses to keep his son as Fernando Alonso’s teammate.
Indeed, George Russell and Yuki Tsunoda have both been linked with Stroll’s cockpit for 2026.
“It’s normal for the media to speculate about the driver market,” a team spokesman said. “But we have an incredible lineup of drivers who are committed and under contract for 2026 and beyond.”
Nonetheless, Stroll’s reputation as a mid-grid driver at best with arguably low passion for his work as a Formula 1 driver continue to follow him.
“I know he doesn’t talk much,” rival and friend Esteban Ocon told Le Journal de Montreal ahead of Stroll’s home Canadian GP.
“He confides more in people he trusts,” he added. “But he’s a really lovely person. And so is his dad.”
Ocon says he has known Stroll since their days in karting. “People may not understand this,” the Frenchman insisted, “but Lance is passionate about racing like no other.
“Everything else interests him less because what he likes is driving the car.”
Ocon also hits back at the idea that Stroll would not be in Formula 1 at all if it wasn’t for his billionaire father. “That’s not true,” he said, “because Lance is someone who won international karting races when there was (Max) Verstappen, Charles Leclerc, myself. We were all fighting together and Lance was in that group.
“It’s not true that money got him there. Not at all,” Ocon added. “Maybe, yes, there are easier ways to get to F1, but in the end, there’s no money with you in the car.”
Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport says Stroll will have to undergo a final medical check by the FIA before being cleared to race this weekend.
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I’ve zero doubts about Lance’s passion for racing (even if he doesn’t seem passionate on the outside), & while money certainly wasn’t the sole factor in him getting to F1, Ocon’s claim that it had zero influence is an exaggeration.
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