Lance Stroll has become somewhat of a controversial figure in Formula 1. Many have questioned whether he deserves to be, or if he himself wants to be, in the sport.
The Canadian has been backed throughout his career by his father, Lawrence Stroll. He helped him get onto the grid with Williams in 2017, before taking him to Racing Point, formerly Force India, after the team entered administration.
Stroll Snr has since turned the team into Aston Martin, with his son being in the driver line-up throughout. It gives him this sense of security that many may believe is permanent, even if his results leave something to be desired.
In his defence, Lance Stroll has faced off against world champion teammates Sebastian Vettel and now Fernando Alonso. However, he has consistently fallen behind and struggled to score points.
In 2025, the 27-year-old scored just 33 points and finished 16th in the standings, his worst finish since 2018. He has scored points six times in both of the last two seasons and was whitewashed by Alonso in qualifying this season, 24-0.
Bernie Collins thinks Lance Stroll is ‘much better’ than people give him credit for
Yet, despite this, Bernie Collins believes that Stroll deserves more credit in F1. Having worked with him at Aston Martin, she thinks that he is ‘much better’ than people may think.
She said on The F1 Show: “I think, to do any of the little things they’ve done, to change the engine, to change the gearbox, to change the chief designer, to change the wind tunnel, have a new factory, any of those individual components would worry me for the performance of the team for the next year because they’re big changes.
“To change all of them together, I think, I’m not sure how phenomenal it’s going to go year one, even though we all know Adrian Newey is a fantastic designer.
“Where does Lance fit in? Well, he probably has a seat there, doesn’t he? And I think that until he doesn’t want to continue, he will continue to be within that team. Or until the team is sold, or we don’t know what’s going to happen with any of that.
“But I think that, like, I worked with Lance for a long time, across a variety of drivers. When you see people running the 400 meters, and you sort of think how fast they go.
“But then when you see it in real life, I think that he’s a much, much better driver than some of us give him credit for in many ways, because he is driving a Formula One car, and he’s not a million miles off.
“But where the direction of the team goes, I don’t know. And I think there’s probably more political upset, I guess, to come if they decide they want to change that.”
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2026 could be huge for Aston Martin, but Lance Stroll needs to improve
As Collins alludes to, Aston Martin have made major changes behind the scenes to put them in a position to be title contenders in 2026. Lawrence Stroll has invested heavily in the team’s new facilities, which could propel them up the order.
With Adrian Newey as team principal, who has already had a huge impact on the team’s 2026 car, and Honda as an engine supplier, Aston Martin seemingly have what they need to compete.
But Lance Stroll will need to score points more regularly, especially when Alonso will be carrying the team on his back. With Newey’s influence, he may not want to keep the Canadian on board, even if it means causing friction with key figures.
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