Sky Sports F1 commentator David Croft wonders if Lance Stroll will choose to leave Formula 1 at the end of 2024, opening up a space at Aston Martin.
With his father owning the Silverstone-based team, Stroll likely has the luxury of racing in F1 at Aston Martin for as long as he pleases.
Since Fernando Alonso joined the team this season though, the Canadian has looked completely out of his depth.
Alonso has remarkably claimed six podiums for Aston Martin in the 12 completed races this season, Stroll on the other hand has finished no higher than fourth.
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The Canadian is by no means a regular top 10 finisher either, despite having a car more than capable of competing for the points.
The same can be said for qualifying, where he’s been eliminated in Q2 far too often considering the package he has.
Alonso is very much the team’s leader and is making Stroll look like an underwhelming driver, with Croft pondering whether the Canadian will look to do something else away from the pinnacle of motorsport at the end of 2024.
“I do wonder, he’s the one driver on the grid that you think: ‘You’re guaranteed a job as long as your dad is there’, and we’ve never actually talked about contracts for Lance Stroll,” Croft told the Sky Sports F1 podcast.
“We’ve never looked at his future elsewhere, but I just have a little feeling that in about a year and a half’s time, Lance Stroll will race his last race in Formula 1 and go off and do something else.”
Should Stroll leave or even Alonso, then ex-F1 driver Timo Glock believes Aston Martin’s former reserve driver is “definitely on the list”.
Aston Martin’s ex-reserve is current Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg, who has been one of the surprising stars of 2023.
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Whilst he’s struggled to score points due to Haas’ 2023 car, he’s often featured in Q3.
Hulkenberg certainly has the pace, with him now just needing a car that can correlate good one lap pace into strong race pace.
He was seen in Aston Martin’s motorhome during the recent Belgian Grand Prix, where he actually failed to escape Q1.