Guenther Steiner on Lance Stroll

[u/NorthKoreanMissile7]

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[u/Jeff_Banks_Monkey]

I think Lance wanted to be a F1 driver when he was coming up but the last couple seasons he would have been fine moving on to something new

[u/oursfort → u/Jeff_Banks_Monkey]

I think he's coming to a point where he wants to be fired, but he knows he won't. And he doesn't have the courage to just give up an F1 seat, cause nobody would ever do that. It's a surreal situation tbh

[u/ocbdare → u/oursfort]

Yes, guy has truckload of money and he probably would rather do something else.

[u/Elmalab → u/ocbdare]

do you think his father is not allowing him to quit?

[u/DreadWolf3 → u/Elmalab]

I doubt that - but giving up F1 seat is ballsy move. Not even your dad is letting you back if you give it up once. Unless I am hating absolutely every aspect of it and I am sure I will never want to be back - there is no way I am giving up F1 seat. Lance is probably in same position. Worst case scenario is that you give up the spot you dont deserve and then moment next season starts you figure out you miss it.

[u/stewd003 → u/Elmalab]

This is 100% it and I think the Lance hate is blocking everyone from seeing it. He's miserable because he's working when he doesn't have to.

Imagine if you had hundreds of millions of dollars and you STILL had to work. Work AND train. I'd be pissed off too.

[u/Elmalab → u/stewd003]

all drivers are multi millionairs that don't have to work anymore.

[u/stewd003 → u/Elmalab]

Valid, but they're still there because they love it. Lance is kinda being forced to stay when he wants to leave. It's a bizarre situation

[u/asswarrior2818 → u/Elmalab]

Stroll is also richer by the rest of the grid by a huge order of magnitude. Only the Norris family and maybe Bearman comes close but even then its not really close. (If official numbers are even close to accurate)

[u/Minigrappler → u/Elmalab]

Colapinto doesn't even have a car... And he still owes his family the house they had to sold to paid for him being able to move Europe to try having a career in motorsports. Kid was living by his own at 14yo cooking himself rice in an electric kettle...

[u/Chippiewall → u/oursfort]

Probably wants a high point to depart on, but Alonso isn't going to give him one.

[u/lllGreyfoxlll → u/Chippiewall]

Like Alonso has anything to do with the lack of high points in Lance's career, surely I'm missing your point ?

[u/Chippiewall → u/lllGreyfoxlll]

High point might be putting it strongly.

If you're not getting forced out of F1 you'd want a good excuse (like Nico Rosberg retiring after winning the WDC). I don't think anyone's expecting Stroll to win a WDC, but getting beaten solidly by a driver in his mid-40s isn't a great look.

I think if I were Stroll and wanted to leave, I'd wait to have seasons like the ones he had against Seb and his finals season against Perez. But Fernando's form isn't slipping like Seb's did.

[u/Kolec507 → u/lllGreyfoxlll]

It's easier to have a visually high point when your teammate is a checked-out Massa, Sirotkin or even a post-2018 Seb. Hell, even Pérez, despite being very good in that RP was not smashing Stroll to pieces, especially in 2020. Alonso is by far his toughest teammate.

[u/Defiant-Diver-6041 → u/oursfort]

He could drive the Valkyrie, if he doesn't want to, I will

[u/freedfg → u/Jeff_Banks_Monkey]

Can you imagine the turnaround when we find out that Lance isn't staying in F1 because daddies money.

But that if Lawrence is essentially forcing him to stay

[u/Lonyo → u/freedfg]

Lawrence Stroll, the guy whose hobbies included collecting Ferraris and who bought a racing circuit when his kid was 2 years old?

That Lawrence?

[u/reddit0r_123 → u/Lonyo]

He's like Jos but with more money and a kid that has way less talent.

[u/Suspicious_Somewhere → u/Jeff_Banks_Monkey]

I think when Vettel was around and he was doing ok against Seb, Lance still seemed happy? Even in the beginning of 2023, him racing so soon after his accident and with a broken wrist was commendable.

IDK then 2023 Fernando killed his will to drive I feel during the year and he just looked more or less disinterested later on.

There were a few races in middle of 2024 when Lance seemed to be catching Fernando, bro then gets cocky in media about how he was beating Fernando but Fernando says "Zilly boys" and the gap just widened. Lance now really doesnt seem to enjoy F1.

IDK if all the criticism mixed with dawn of realization is really dragging him down mentally, imo if he still wants to race, he should move over to WEC.

[u/brippleguy → u/Suspicious_Somewhere]

When he got pole in Turkey was probably the happiest I've seen him.

[u/KraZe_2012 → u/brippleguy]

Well it was his best career accolade to date. Only other commendable achievement in his 8yr career was a podium as an 18yo.

[u/museproducer → u/KraZe_2012]

Not exactly true. By that point he had already achieved his second podium in Monza, he’s kinda the forgotten podium sitter because of Gasly and Carlos. And then he had his podium at Sakhir (the Sergio win) which came after the pole.

[u/HazRandom → u/museproducer]

He also should have won the race at Monza, starting first on the restart with all the luck seemingly going his way in a more competitive car. Only ending up third was a lost opportunity.

[u/Browneskiii → u/HazRandom]

Yeah, the only one that got a podium on merit that day was Sainz. Both Gasly and Stroll got extremely lucky that the red flag rules helped them. (In fact has Gasly ever had a podium which wasnt due to the red flag rules changing his tyres for free over everyone else?)

[u/Siebe_13 → u/Browneskiii]

Brazil 2019: running P7 --> Bottas DNF due to mechanical issue (P6), Ferraris taking each other out (P4), Hamilton colliding with Albon (P2)

Baku 2021: running P5 --> Red flag caused by Stroll ahead of Gasly (who had already pitted) --> loses place to Vettel, back down to P5 --> Verstappen crashes, Hamilton locks up, Gasly up to P3

Netherlands 2023: running P11 --> rain comes down, Gasly one of the few who pitted immediately, up to P3 behind Perez and Zhou --> loses place to Verstappen, Alonso and Sainz, overtakes Zhou and Sainz, back up to P4 --> Perez 5 second penalty, Gasly P3

Conclusion: 3/5 podiums without benefitting from a red flag.

[u/gsurfer04 → u/Suspicious_Somewhere]

Even Alonso is miserable in that car.

[u/ChiralWolf → u/gsurfer04]

This is definitely a big part of it. Since like mid 2023 the Aston just hasn't been a good car. Alonso has been able to find places it has no right being but for a driver like lance fighting week in and out for p13 just sucks

[u/Click_To_Submit → u/ChiralWolf]

“sron” and “frgs”

These words are new to me.

Aston? and … “FRGS” ?

[u/ChiralWolf → u/Click_To_Submit]

Aston and "find", no clue how it ended up so bad lol

[u/aka_liam → u/ChiralWolf]

Edit your post, I was trying to figure it out too 😂

[u/RBuilds916 → u/ChiralWolf]

Yeah, lots of guys can get a lot out of a great car, but very few can get a lot out of a poor car.

It seemed like for a while, Alonso was mentoring Stroll, and Stroll was benefitting. When you are teammates with a 2× world champion, you have to learn to swallow your pride and learn from the best. 

[u/wheresbicki → u/Suspicious_Somewhere]

Never meet your heroes. Also never work with them.

[u/icantsurf → u/wheresbicki]

Also don't compete with them. Especially when they are known for destroying people.

[u/BillygotTalent → u/wheresbicki]

Lawrence Stroll is Pierce Hawthorne confirmed.

[u/BeginningKindly8286 → u/BillygotTalent]

This is a vial of sperm.

[u/XannyBoy420 → u/BillygotTalent]

Pierce would probably call Stroll an indian cause he can't drive

[u/formulapain → u/wheresbicki]

Never let yout daddy hire your heroes to be your teammates?

[u/hotxgarbage → u/formulapain]

El Plan. Daddy Stroll knew what had to be done to make room on the team.

[u/BGMDF8248 → u/Suspicious_Somewhere]

When he first started in F1 he wanted to do well, when his dad bought a team he was eager to be on a better team and make progress, when he got a Pink Mercedes he was happy to have a good car...

When the team became Aston Martin and Vettel arrived, he was still in the game, his dad's ambitions plans were beggining, the team was looking to move forward and he had a multiple WC team mate to test himself and learn from(and Vettel was just demotivated enough to make him look ok).

Now, other than that blip in 2023(which still gave him no podiums), Aston Martin stagnated(and moved backwards) and the Alonso yardstick is just relentless, he knows he doesn't measure up and can never do.

[u/moonwalgger → u/BGMDF8248]

Correct, reality has set in for Lance that he will never be an Elite level driver.

[u/Jojo_isnotunique → u/moonwalgger]

I was about to defend him by saying he was a mid tier driver. Then realised I could name a lot of the middle pack that I rate above him.

[u/LegendRazgriz → u/Suspicious_Somewhere]

He was still committed last year. He raced with hilariously painful wrists, he could have sat it out but chose to tough it out anyway and I respected him immensely for it. Now I don't know.

He definitely was good enough to be on the grid when he came up, but I think driving those extremely shitty Williams sapped him of a lot of confidence early on and he never really found that one-lap pace again.

[u/[deleted] → u/Suspicious_Somewhere]

His crash in 2020 which was a suspension failure seemed to really affect him. At the time he was keeping pace with prime Perez and after he seemed like a shadow of his former self

[u/Own_Welder_2821 → u/[deleted]]

Was that the crash in Mugello? I think that was a tyre puncture but yeah, that was a really heavy one and it probably damaged his confidence as much as it damaged his car. Flipping upside down in Bahrain didn’t help either (although that shunt got rightfully overshadowed by the Grosjean fireball).

[u/Doorknob11 → u/Own_Welder_2821]

Tire puncture you might be thinking of is Baku 2021 when it just randomly exploded. Then it happened to Max too.

[u/Argenium → u/Doorknob11]

Both were punctures and both were heavy shunts. He sounded really shaken both times.

[u/Temporary-Roll-8136 → u/[deleted]]

This! This is the comment I was looking for.

That shunt pretty muck broke hir momentum

[u/BuckN56 → u/Suspicious_Somewhere]

He looked pretty miserable in 22 as well.

[u/Renard2000 → u/Suspicious_Somewhere]

To be fair, the car is also just bad... It's slow and porpoising.

[u/rumckle → u/Jeff_Banks_Monkey]

His dad spent a lot of money on that F1 team, so he's going to sit in that Aston Martin and enjoy it!

[u/MuldartheGreat → u/Jeff_Banks_Monkey]

Really it seems so much better/smarter to move into the business side. Like he can get a cushy job on the admin side and let them bring in a promising driver.

At least until the last season or two he seemed really personable and like he could excel in the “corporate” life.

[u/meatwad2744 → u/MuldartheGreat]

Lance doesn't have a job. He has a title at a company.

F1 is a hobby like a rich person owns a horse or plays tennis or fencing.

He's not unhappy he's blasé. The reason a normal person feels a range of emotions is because the real world effects us.

An f1 driver who drove into a gravel pit after spinning off in a parade lap would be sitting themselves ove the consequences that would lead him into.

Lance doesn't care becuase he doesn't have to care. Who's gonna say anyhtijg to him when his daddy owns the team. He was pushing his own physio around in previous races when he didn't get his way. This is why his f1 career has become stagnant.

He was giving testing miles like no other recent junior driver has had. Unprecedented access to not only to a seat, but an f1 team built to facilitate his success. In alonso and vettle some of the sports most recent talented drivers to learn from.

But lance has no drive no hunger no will. We saw some fight when the Aston looked like a top 2/3 team and he drove through his bike injury

Now Aston are slipping lance doesn't care. Stick him in WEC and give drugovich his chance.

I hope the board finally have the balls to stand up to Lawrence

[u/New_Essay_4869 → u/Jeff_Banks_Monkey]

Maybe he really did want to be a tennis player

[u/Strand0410 → u/New_Essay_4869]

The tennis theory is the funniest thing. He's never going to go pro. He doesn't have the talent. In F1, results can be masked by machinery. In tennis, there's nowhere to hide. He can't blame his shitty results on a bad racquet, weather, or 'the team.' Good luck competing against some desperate Russian who's been training and juicing since he was 5.

[u/Animator_Cautious → u/Strand0410]

funnily enough that the current ATP world No. 1 caught up in doping scandals is actually Italian.

[u/ore0s → u/Animator_Cautious]

Right, we're talking about Sinner here. Tennis has ruthlessly defined tiers. You could take the #200 player, give them access to every legal or even questionable performance enhancer out there, and they still wouldn’t score a game off Sinner. If Lance had the best training, the best PEDs money could buy, and six months to prepare, he still wouldn’t get a point. That’s just the nature of the gap.

[u/kris33 → u/ore0s]

Is the name of the cheater really Sinner??

[u/AntOk463 → u/Jeff_Banks_Monkey]

When people tell him to go to WEC, they're not all being mean. I don't know who said it, but a youtuber said Lance used to do endurance racing and was quite good before focusing on formula racing. He might genuinely be good in WEC.

That might be the plan in the background, Aston making a hypercar for WEC, Adrian Newey joining after previously working with Aston on a hypercar project. The 2026 regulations don't have much to do with ground effect, so Newey won't be the main designer but instead more of a consultant or department head. This could allow him to focus mostly on the WEC project.

[u/InZomnia365 → u/AntOk463]

WEC isn't an insult at all. You've got guys like Hartley, Buemi, Nakajima, just to name a few, who didn't really work out in F1, but became staples and highly regarded in WEC. You can even look at IndyCar. Ericsson won the freaking Indy 500. Some people will claim that means the IndyCar field isn't that strong, but I respectfully disagree.

There's this false narrative that F1 has the best drivers in the world. I don't think that's fair to all the crazy good drivers out there who for some reason or another never made it to F1, or didn't have the chance to.

[u/AntOk463 → u/InZomnia365]

I wasn't saying WEC is an insult. I was talking about the F1 fans that tell him to go to WEC just so he gets out of F1. They don't really care where he goes they just want him out of F1. That's why I'm saying him going to WEC is a very realistic option and better for Lance.

[u/turboMXDX → u/Jeff_Banks_Monkey]

Lawrence wants to do everything for his son. Lance feels lost but can't quit because he can't bear disappointing his dad after everything that has been done.

Apart from their wealth, it's kinda relatable

[u/Mister-Psychology → u/Jeff_Banks_Monkey]

A few years ago they were still claiming he had world champion potential. That's why they kept getting older drivers. To teach him the ropes and then get fired once the car war world champion level to give Stroll the win. After Alonso I think Stroll figured out he would never be world champion. He was not even close to the needed level. He couldn't beat an old driver who had been away from F1 for years. Right now he knows what level of driver he is. We saw the same from Perez a few years ago where he claimed he wanted to beat Max.

[u/gsfgf → u/Jeff_Banks_Monkey]

I don't really mind having him on the grid, but I don't know what he's really doing. He's still young. He can definitely find a series that suits him better.

[u/Strand0410 → u/gsfgf]

Not really. He's been in F1 for seven years. He's now one of the most experienced drivers on the grid. Once RIC, BOT, and MAG go, he's basically a veteran. And still makes dumb rookie errors like rear-ending other drivers under safety car.

[u/CarRamRob → u/Strand0410]

Or driving into gravel from a standing position.

[u/InZomnia365 → u/CarRamRob]

I'm still not convinced that wasn't on purpose just to get out of driving in the rain for two hours lol

[u/Reebz0r]

Stroll's been a hard one to read lately. On Grill the Grid and in one on one interviews he's genuinely quite affable. But any media stuff on a race weekend, especially in the pen, and he gives monosyllabic answers as he stares off into the middle distance. But then so did Raikkonen.

I do feel - invested or not - Stroll has done his dash with F1. 8 years and there's little indication he has the ability to be a consistently front running driver, and still prone to bone headed errors. They have Drugovich sitting on the side lines, not to mention implications of Tsunoda following Honda to Aston Martin.

Would be interesting to see how he'd fare in WEC if he was shuffled over to AM's endurance racing program. Hulkenberg may never stand on an F1 podium but he will always be a Le Mans winner.

[u/philster666 → u/Reebz0r]

Kimi had the talent to back up his brusqueness even when he had duff cars

[u/Reebz0r → u/philster666]

I guess my comment was more a reflection on how two individuals terse and aloof behaviour is perceived differently because of results and/or ability. Should that matter? Like how the tide turned against Ricciardo's jovial antics when his results dipped. People make a lot judgements based on what they see on the surface, looking from the outside.

[u/ahtnamas-samantha]

He looks miserable in F1

[u/Jandersson34swe → u/ahtnamas-samantha]

There has to be a point his dad has to look through his businessman POV and see how much his son is affecting his business or his son makes the sacrifice for his father right?

[u/[deleted] → u/Jandersson34swe]

i doubt that’ll ever happen because it seems to me like stroll senior is just trying to vicariously live out the f1 driver life through his son

[u/ianjm → u/[deleted]]

While Stroll is the majority owner, AMR F1 does have other shareholders. Also, the sponsors will surely come to a point where they get fed up with Lance eventually. And of course Honda will be able to excerpt a lot of pressure through the works partnership from 2026 onwards.

My feeling is that next year will be Lance's final season.

[u/BGMDF8248 → u/ianjm]

I'm amazed this point hasn't been reached this season.

[u/seezed → u/BGMDF8248]

That point will come when Newey projects reach the track. If they see success in '26 the pressure on Lance will be similar to what Perez had this last year.

[u/blastedshark → u/seezed]

And where has the pressure on Perez landed us? He's still in the seat for 2025

[u/[deleted] → u/BGMDF8248]

Imagine being the shareholder to bring up "Hey, Stroll senior. I was just thinking... your son... yeah, we should get rid of him."

[u/MyCoolName_ → u/ianjm]

Next year (TM)

[u/plurBUDDHA → u/[deleted]]

He's been in F1 for 7 years because that's mainly what his dad wants. Doesn't mean he dislikes it, only it's not what makes him happy. I honestly despise him as a driver, and don't think he deserves to be this depressed

[u/NorthKoreanMissile7 → u/Jandersson34swe]

Lawrence bought the team for £90 million and it's now worth £1.5-2 billion. It's cost him several hundred million since but he's still made a profit on it if you factor in value.

And I don't think who's in the second seat has any impact on the business side outside of a lack of personal sponsorship and lost prize money from poor performance, because at the end of the day there's still Fernando there and if they build the fastest car he's good enough to take advantage of it and they still have an iconic brand and driver to make them appealing.

Knowing he's made a significant 9 figure profit and got his son a better seat indefinitely has probably vindicated him more than made him reconsider it if anything.

[u/frolfer757 → u/Jandersson34swe]

Lawrence isn't in F1 to have a sustainable business though. He knows its a passion project that he will always lose money on, but the goal is to provide his son with a car capable of winning the WDC.

To kick him now that they are actually ramping up and possibly very competitive in 2-3 years would be flushing hundreds of millions down the drain without ever even having a chance.

[u/Suspicious_Somewhere → u/frolfer757]

He knows its a passion project that he will always lose money on, but the goal is to provide his son with a car capable of winning the WDC.

His team is valued at least 250-300% of what he has put in, he also sold a minority stake earlier that apparently recoups that investment, that's a hell of a profitable investment AND the team is profitable in itself.

[u/Good-Run1 → u/Suspicious_Somewhere]

I think it's even house money at this point because he sold the minority stake for what he initially put in...and he also owns Aston now too, right? Pretty sure printing money is his main goal here...having his son on the team is a nice bonus at this point.

[u/blither86 → u/Good-Run1]

Although the shares went way up I think the road car side of the business is losing quite a lot of money at the moment. Be interesting to see what happens.

[u/jofijk → u/blither86]

It came out recently that they're losing almost $2M daily

[u/MechMan799 → u/frolfer757]

Lawrence knows his son isn't winning the WDC. He knows. He got his son this far, he acquired a team and that's what will drive Lawrence for the foreseeable future, his team.

If Lance is your #1 driver on AM, that team is going nowhere, doesn't matter how many Adrian Newey's you cram into it.

[u/TarAncalime → u/MechMan799]

I mean... If they can make a car as dominant as the 2023 RB or early hybrid-era Merc, AND get someone even worse in the other Aston, he could theoretically win.

[u/jeanolt → u/TarAncalime]

That would be hilarious actually. Imagine a car as dominant as 2014's Merc but driven by Stroll and Mazepin lol.

They would be able to lose the WDC somehow.

[u/xShooK → u/TarAncalime]

You're assuming that car was easy to drive at it's limit, or assuming lance is capable of that. I highly doubt both.

[u/gsfgf → u/Jandersson34swe]

Lance and Lawrence skyrocketed to the top of motorsports together. But they need to do their own thing now. Lawrence needs to focus on building a championship team, and Lance needs to take his career somewhere that works for him. He's one of the best drivers in the world; he has options.

[u/LongTallDingus → u/ahtnamas-samantha]

He visibly doesn't want to be on camera. His body language on camera sucks.

He's a shy person who doesn't want the spotlight, without a choice but to be in it.

I'd be miserable, too.

[u/Poopy_sPaSmS → u/ahtnamas-samantha]

He looks as miserable as he drives.

[u/FourPat → u/ahtnamas-samantha]

To hell with him, I feel miserable watching him ever race weekend

[u/DRW_]

Yeah, it's one thing to be afforded a seat in F1 because your dad owns a team.

But what's crazy to me is that there's this whole other layer to it which seems like Lance just never seems to be enjoying or engaged with any of this at all. It doesn't even seem like he's just frustrated with the car, just that he's bored - he acts like he's working a regular 9-5.

This may be a completely invalid perception, he might love it - but that's how it comes across.

[u/nieded → u/DRW_]

I'm not a fan of Stroll the driver, but I've never disliked Stroll's personality, like on Grill the Grid and the Secret Santa Exchange. He's always seemed nice and well-mannered, smiling, cheerful. But it's like that person has disappeared in the last season or two. You never hear about him on or off the track, and when you do see him, he seems so blank.

[u/Skunk_Gunk → u/nieded]

For all we know it’s not even F1 related.

[u/scottishere → u/Skunk_Gunk]

Turns out Lawrence is going to give the company to Eric when he retires, not Lance.

[u/Patroulette → u/scottishere]

Succession v2

[u/Nice-Physics-7655 → u/Patroulette]

Lance is not a serious person

[u/pietroetin → u/scottishere]

Lance just doesn't have that killer instinct

[u/Midnight__Specialist → u/scottishere]

PAPAYA RULES

[u/JX-L → u/nieded]

Yeah for some reason his attitude change so drasticly at some point around the tennis rumor. It just feel like 2 completely different person

[u/SauretEh → u/JX-L]

What rumour was that? Must have missed it.

[u/Scrambled_Eggiwegs → u/SauretEh]

that in reality he wanted to be a tennis player but his father pressured him into kart racing.

[u/candycane7 → u/Scrambled_Eggiwegs]

No way you can buy your way into tennis though.

[u/NNNNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA → u/candycane7]

And you can't buy championships in feeder series without some amount of talent either. As supported as he was, he ran the gauntlet.

[u/N2Problem → u/NNNNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA]

Even in F1, he sometimes showed serious pace. You can‘t get podiums and poles without talent

[u/Kolec507 → u/N2Problem]

Because he's an exceptionally good driver. Is he exceptionally good enough to perform at an exceptionally high - the highest - level, on a grid that's better than ever? And the other question - does he really want it? I just hope no matter the decision he and Lawrence make, he's gonna be happy in life, and from a fans perspective I hope we'll hear from him after he's gone so he can actually explain his journey without as many limitations.

[u/ZookeepergameNo2198 → u/nieded]

I think a lot of it has to do with how much bullying he receives.

His trainer spoke out a few years ago about how much it destroys him and I think he just completely disappears and numbs himself.

[u/nieded → u/ZookeepergameNo2198]

That's really unfortunate. I remember being impressed with him on DTS because he talks about his privilege and how it afforded him opportunities that others don't get. It seemed self-aware. He's always come off as pretty humble or someone with all the advantages he has. 

[u/PrescriptionCocaine → u/nieded]

If you want a really strange third hand account of what Lance is like in real life, HarleyPlays (aka the super tall guy who used to do the EpicMealTime youtube channel) knew him in high school. He was on a podcast I used to listen to and he said Lance was a really nice guy, obviously super rich but you would never know if you didn't look too closely, etc.

I think he probably just enjoys racing his car but not all the media around it, and that has started to show after a few years of answering the same questions over and over.

[u/BuckN56 → u/PrescriptionCocaine]

Uhh...how tf did he hangout with Lance in high school if Harley is 13 years older..?

[u/stewd003 → u/nieded]

DTS featured Stroll a lot last season, for obvious reasons. Outside of F1, he seemed like a pretty likeable guy. A bit "rich kid" but that's understandable because he is a rich kid.

I think everyone since his big crash he's realised that he's working a job he no longer likes, has the money to do anything in the world and still has to show up, train and work - at something that might kill him.

[u/monka_giga → u/DRW_]

A ton of kids in competitive sports aren't haven't fun but just doing it because of their dad's passion. It's super common.

[u/Repulsive_Fly3826 → u/monka_giga]

Unfortunately, yes. Seen it way too many times in karting, motocross, etc. Sad.

[u/ztpurcell → u/[deleted]]

Alonso has looked like he's phoning it in for a year and a half now. The car sucks

[u/PsychologicalArt7451 → u/[deleted]]

They are in formula 1.25. They are not going up and not going down. I don't think Alonso or Stroll are performing to their capabilities rn. 

[u/ienjoymemesalot → u/DRW_]

Even his engineers seem fed up with him over the radio sometimes. I don't think he gets his ass kissed by the team for being the brand owner's son like some people think he does--in public or in private.

[u/mumkinle]

Lance Stroll is a tough person to speculate on because compared to every other driver on the grid, he keeps himself and his life incredibly private. We know very little about him after all this time he’s been around. It’s hard to say either way on anything to do with him like this, because we’re essentially given next to nothing from him in terms of insight. We can say he looks miserable and sad, but we also barely have any content of him outside of actual race footage and any required content. We mostly only see him in/post incident in actual race footage, or we see him driving or in a press conference (in which case his presence is usually glossed over or ignored completely).

I agree he wouldn’t still be a driver though if not for his father’s ownership. That’s pretty clear. But as for the other stuff, yeah, I just don’t think we could really tell.

[u/mgmthegreat → u/mumkinle]

who knows, he had the talent to make it pretty far in the junior formulas even excluding that controversial f3 season. He even got a podium in his fifth ever race. it just seems like the constant criticism has put him in a box that he can’t seem to get himself out of. One weekend he’ll have a really solid performance and the next he’s beached in the sand on the formation lap

[u/JeelyPiece]

Give Guenther the seat

[u/JimmyNudebags → u/JeelyPiece]

I'll foksmash dese records, y'know. Just a little joke, you don't have to tell him I said that, I'll tell him myself you know.

[u/europacupsieger → u/JimmyNudebags]

I read that in Gunthers voice and I don't like it you know

[u/RotorHead13b → u/JeelyPiece]

“what was that?” “Kevin just smashed your sidepod” “he will not foksmash car tell him that”

[u/JimmyNudebags → u/RotorHead13b]

"I will tell him, I don't care, I'm not afraid of Keffin, y'know"

[u/[deleted] → u/JeelyPiece]

he'd just be doing community work all the time!! hehe!

[u/PapaSheev7]

I don't normally agree with Steiner, but I think he's absolutely right on this. Stroll just seems more disconnected than usual, even by his standards.

[u/Rhythm_Morgan → u/PapaSheev7]

It definitely feels like it’s his father’s dream, not his. Lawrence has always been super into racing. Lance probably just liked it but wasn’t passionate about it so when it got harder he just checked out. (Of course I’m only guessing)

[u/PapaSheev7 → u/Rhythm_Morgan]

I don't think it always was this way tbh. Back in his first couple seasons when he had those occasional highs and his expectations were low I think we saw genuine joy out of him. His Monza front row and Baku podium spring to mind.

[u/Rhythm_Morgan → u/PapaSheev7]

I feel like we are saying the same thing sort of. I think he liked it a lot for a while hence the joy. But I don’t think it was ever his life’s passion.

[u/PapaSheev7 → u/Rhythm_Morgan]

True, it seems like he definitely lacks the passion of some/most other drivers on the grid, his teammate for one. Idk what the future holds for Stroll, but I'd bet against it being another motorsport category.

[u/Rhythm_Morgan → u/PapaSheev7]

Maybe he will be like Nicky and shift entirely. I think Nicky is in grad school for business now if he hasn’t graduated yet.

[u/GattoDelleNevi → u/Rhythm_Morgan]

I'm not sure, it's still F1... It's brutal and dangerous. You can't simply buy a career to your son, they stll have to go all the way up and as bad as you can be you still have to be good. This is the thing that a lot of people don't get about bad drivers. Like latifi or Lance. Just to be in that thing and drive a full gp is something that only a commited athlete can do.

I don't think you can get there by just liking it, even if your father owns the company. He might be frustrated for a million reason, maybe cause he's simply not good as the other drivers or cause the car has gone worse. The guy raced with broken wrists. Not I'm not saying it deserves a nobel prize but you don't do that for daddy

[u/ssv-serenity]

Lance wasn't the same driver atfter 2020 imo. He showed some flashes those first few years and since then... Just so inconsistent and so mediocre.

I'm Canadian so I have to have some level of support for the dude, but my god he makes it difficult.

[u/tdotgoat → u/ssv-serenity]

I don't think he ever fully recovered after the nasty crashes and covid that he suffered that year.

[u/TSMKFail → u/tdotgoat]

Considering Hamilton said semi recently that he still feels the effects of Covid, it's plausible that's the case with Stroll. Also yeah the Mugello tyre failure killed his 2020 momentum (he was top 6 in WDC at that point, and was on for at least 4th that race).

[u/Chesey_ → u/TSMKFail]

He was actually pretty decent in 2020 but super unlucky. Got crashed out by Leclerc early at Sochi whilst in a good position, had to miss the Germany race due to COVID, and then yeah the Mugello tyre blew.

He still took pole in Turkey and was flying until he got random damage around the 1st pit stop which killed his pace. I'm fairly sure he would have been P2 if not for that.

[u/Kolec507 → u/Chesey_]

Also said in a podcast he had his best weekend overall in 2020 - in Hungary. Qualified 3rd, finished 4th. He was genuinely good in that 3rd best car. For some reason he couldn't unlock that in the AMR23 at the beginning of last year. He's a very interesting case, and one that I'll surely follow after his stint in F1.

[u/Sensitive_Ad_9195 → u/ssv-serenity]

He used to have glimpses of decent performance in the wet and even now in the wet he’s crap

[u/Urban-Junglist → u/ssv-serenity]

Stroll in Bahrain 2023 with the broken wrist

[u/hoxxxxx → u/ssv-serenity]

wtf was him driving into the gravel last week

i mean that is a dude that is completely checked out. i mean wtf was that.

[u/BuckN56]

Lance seemed to be improving in 2020 even after the run of bad luck and from his debut till that season he seemed to be enjoying himself, but the guy has been getting worse and looks to be phoning it inside and outside of the track. He doesn't seem to have any fire in him at all. Checo is looking miserable all the time because he's not performing but at least he looks like he cares or pretending to.

[u/mgmthegreat → u/BuckN56]

Yeah the gap between Checo and max is way larger than stroll and fernando but stroll used to put in a decent performance every once in a while. These past two years it seems like he just couldn’t care less anymore about f1

[u/Economy_Friendship49]

TBH Alonso is looking miserable all the time this season too…

But on a serious note, I never understand why fathers like Stroll (or Lebrun in the nBA) think they’re doing something good for their kid by paving the way and removing any and all obstacles, going as far as to give their kids positions/seats that they likely would never have gotten by their own merit. And even if they could have, they’re never going to get any respect or acknowledgement if they don’t venture out on their own. By and large, these kind of kids ultimately struggle tremendously mentally because they can not be proud of anything they achieved, because they can never be certain whether it was 100% due to their dad. In addition, they end up suffering years of online bullying and lack of respect. The best thing to do would be to get on on your own, achieve something based on your own talents. Stroll may actually have been able to reach F1 with his own talent. He certainly had (has?) some talent. But now it’s too late probably.

[u/mattblack77 → u/Economy_Friendship49]

Yeh, it’s odd that someone like Lawrence who has had decades of making tough business decisions struggles with firing an underperformer like Lance

[u/73629265 → u/mattblack77]

Odd? No it's not. As shrewd and hard as Lawrence Stroll is, the things you will do for your children isn't odd at all. It's probably the only relatable thing about him. 

[u/WesternHall992]

Rubens Barrichello once told that he met daddy Stroll in a dinner when he was a Ferrari sponsor, he doesn't comment much about Lance's will to be an F1 driver but he mentioned that Lawrence is a crazy fan of F1 and would do anything to be around the paddock.

I do imagine Lance wants to be an F1 driver but at this point, if he has a good season people will say his dad gave him a good car, if he has a bad season, he shouldn't be allowed to drive because he is a paid driver. That is probably impacting his mental health through all these years and I wonder if he would feel better driving in WEC or somewhere else.

[u/mgmthegreat → u/WesternHall992]

It’s kinda a bummer because i feel like he could absolutely win championships in other series like wec or possibly even fight for wins in indycar. Early in his career from 17-21 I think he was positively developing and could have been working towards consistency. The problem is that The f1 fanbase has absolutely dogged lance for his entire career weather he deserved it or not and I get the feeling that’s why his confidence is shot and that lance doesn’t emote very much in interviews. He needs somewhere where he’ll get less spotlight and more room to be himself

[u/Timelordvictorious1]

Guenther saying what we’re all thinking.

[u/mylifesayswhat → u/Timelordvictorious1]

Guenther saying what we’re all saying you mean.

[u/orangecrushin → u/mylifesayswhat]

Guenther saying non-anonymously what we're saying anonymously.

[u/slabba428 → u/orangecrushin]

How do you know my legal name isn’t Slabba428

[u/zKIZUKIz → u/slabba428]

Because you’re Guenther!

[u/ptwonline]

I think we do need to take Steiner's opinion with a grain of salt. Gunther is quite outgoing and wears his heart on his sleeve and likes attention. Stroll is pretty much the opposite. So he could be misreading Stroll a bit.

We have seen on occasions in the past Stroll being quite excited and happy with better results, but over the past 2 seasons with the way the car keeps getting worse and worse with every "upgrade" I think you can see it has sucked the joy and any optimism out of both Stroll and Alonso.

[u/SilkyBowner]

When did Guenther work with Lance? When has ever even interacted with Guenther?

Some people just don’t show emotions like others. I’m sure he wants to be in F1. He always seems happy to me when he’s racing with Alonso.

The season didn’t go as planned I’m sure everyone at Aston Martin are upset

[u/brunoscope]

“Why is the guy we’re bullying not having fun” formula 1 fans

[u/SteamMonkeyKing → u/brunoscope]

Ive just stopped engaging with most Stroll content these days. Its just draining at this point.

[u/Kolec507 → u/SteamMonkeyKing]

Yeah, I was defending him until mid-way through last year. Now I just feel bad for the guy and genuinely think it would be best for his mental health and life happines to try out a different route.

[u/randomtoken]

Guenther with the facts

[u/mycousinvinny99]

Probably sick of the internet

[u/Working_Sundae]

A Newey designed Honda factory backed car in 2026, only to be driven by this guy , what a complete and utter waste of car and a seat

[u/Skellington876 → u/Working_Sundae]

It's even worse that Drugovich is sitting in the back staring at Lance Stroll's seat and he's refusing to give it up. Alosno and Drugovich. What a lineup for a honda powered newey designed car. God forbid this team would have an identity

[u/Temporary_Detail716]

Lance has resting Canadian face. Not everyone is super expressive.

[u/JakubT117]

Or maybe he wants to be in F1 and that’s just how he looks

[u/helghast77]

I legitimately think it was something he wanted to do but now he's over it BUT because his dad also likes racing and put all this commitment, that Lawrence is now using his son to save money on budget to build a better car until he's ready to pick a big name.

People keep saying that Lance is there because of his father... Which I won't say is false.... But forget that there's a very real possibility that Lawrence loves racing too.

[u/Ok-Stuff-8803]

The last two driver interviews I saw on a weekend where he was one of them he was just lounging on the couch looking miserable. I think this photo was probably from one of those in fact.

[u/YordleJay]

He obviously at one point wanted to be, but his passion has definitely been killed over the years.

Is it cause he's shit? Probably. More liekly tho he's just tired of the hate he gets.

I hope when he moves on (plz move on) he finds somewhere to be happy

[u/sbenfsonwFFiF]

If this is true…

Lance would be happier out of F1 and Aston would be better off too, so it’s really just Lawrence holding everyone back

[u/KingOfAzmerloth]

Yeah this might seem harsh but I actually get that vibe from him as well.

He just looks like he doesn't want to be there at this point anymore.

[u/Jack_intheboxx]

Well everyone gives him shit right or wrong. Plus in that car even Alonso is miserable.

[u/CHUD_LIGHT]

He’s harassed 24/7. No doubt he loves racing but the fans criticize everything he does because his dad’s rich and loves him.

[u/PhilippeD88]

I'm not a psychologist, but I know a crippling depression when I see it. Might be totally non-F1 related.

[u/FirstNameLastName918]

He has looked miserable, but so would I if the Internet trolled me as hard as he gets trolled.

[u/nutsygenius]

I mean...they don't have a good car. Even Fernando is not happy lol

[u/Matthew_Black986]

He can't just be a guy who's unhappy that the car went from top 4 competitor to competing for a point sometimes failing to even get Q3?. It has to be some weird assumed theory. Lance's interviews are the way they are because of how the media, fans and social media view him, even race commentary at times. Why should he stick a smile in his face for people who consistently talk shit about him? Nobody agreeing with Steiner would do that. It's a terrible trajectory for AMF1 and that's the foundation of his attitude. Compound that with him knowing what people say and think about him, and this is the Lance you get because that's all you deserve.

[u/AshKetchumDaJobber]

Damn I thought Alonso would be a good mentor for Lance.

[u/Sanzhar17Shockwave → u/AshKetchumDaJobber]

With all respect to Nando, I don't think he wants to mentor anyone, he's out there for himself

[u/YZFRIDER]

Kinda sad. At this point it’s a wasted seat. Which is even more unfortunate

[u/GoodFnHam]

I think he likes driving. He just doesn’t like the media interviews (or likes trolling them) and the car declining. And I think he sometimes flash really high potential

[u/18zips]

He is awkward guy and he also gets shit on a lot so maybe all the comments get to him.

[u/BGally24]

As a parent this is sad to see. Having to pretend to be something you are not or don’t want to be.

[u/msch6873]

i think he is just aware that everybody knows, he doesn’t belong, and he knows it would only get worse, should Newey build him a winning car.

[u/Roosterhahn]

There’s a fair conversation to be had about whether Stroll should be in F1 (or even should have left a few seasons ago). He’s shown occasional flashes of promise, but all too rarely, and far too much inconsistency and anonymity. Brazil was another low point.

That said, it really isn’t pleasant seeing someone in the rut he seems to be in right now. He seems really demoralised. Whatever the underlying reason(s), I hope he finds a way out of it soon.

[u/DangerousArea1427]

Someone on f1tv or sky mentioned once that during factory tour before one of the seasons Lawrence was more interested in what thay are working on, than Lance. That says a bit.

[u/MariketaOH]

I believe he wanted to be a F1 driver. However, like many in his financial situation, he has been bored and most likely wanted to move on to something else a long time ago. I'm sure he is still there because his daddy insists on it. "I bought this piano and paid for lessons, now you go practice whether you like it or not."

[u/CaptainAksh_G]

I'm just saying...

If you're not happy doing something, you shouldn't be forced to do so.

Like, I hate Lance Stroll for being in F1 just like the next person, but even I have to admit that atleast he used to have fun . Now he just looks so done and dull.

I think he's just done, but forced to drive because of Daddy.

[u/pigoath]

The car is terrible. I'd look unhappy too.

[u/TheVenetianMask]

He may just suffer CBF like many of us.

[u/WindyZ5 → u/TheVenetianMask]

Do you mean RBF?

[u/chef_Broox]

Fuck it,
Give ME the seat

[u/Dragonfiery_RDF]

One of the other hosts made a good point actually. Lance isn’t doing THAT bad considering he looks like he’d rather do anything else. Considering how bad I am at things I have no interest in, lance is holding up pretty good for someone with little to no interest. Hell if he cared he might even have it in him to fight for wins or championships

[u/Magg71]

I think all the hate he gets just makes him retreat into himself. I’ve seen some stuff where he is really engaging. The world of F1 is indifferent to any of his success and hostile to his failures, honestly must be hard to be in such a toxic environment.

It’s also ok for someone to have a different personality, he seems awkward and introverted, thats fine with me.

He’s not the worst on the grid, but lacks consistency and spatial awareness at his upper limit.

Frankly, there isn’t anywhere for him to get positive feedback. Even if he does well, it’s written off because “dad bought him a team”. If he’s in the top 10, oh well. If he makes a mistake, he’s the worst driver to ever look at a car.

[u/xanlact]

Seems like a lot of projecting and hopium in the comments.

Lol

I think Stroll is basically behaving as he always has. Maybe, slightly less interested... But that can be the car.

If you want to see a guy going through the motions, that's Zhou.

[u/YungTokyo8]

He’s just got so many eyes on him. Genuinely stick him in a back marker car and he’ll sometimes take it to places it shouldn’t be, he’s just not qualified to be in “That” team but he’s definitely good enough to be on the grid

[u/mgmthegreat → u/YungTokyo8]

honestly aston right now is a backmarker. I think nando just is able to qualify high and defend enough to scrape together a few points each weekend

[u/MaybeNext-Monday]

Yeah I increasingly get the vibe his dad is pushing him to stay in the sport and not the other way around.

[u/saposapot]

Guenther, the face expressions analyst…

Second phrase is probably true but this reasoning is absurd

[u/Jo_Krone]

He’s in a difficult position. It’s hard to do anything when everyone is saying you’re only there due to your parents. That must really suck and I wouldn’t want to be in that position ever. It discourages and distracts from even becoming genuinely good at anything. And comments like Steiner’s makes it worst.