Pedro de la Rosa was announced to have signed with Aston Martin as a team ambassador last week, and the Spaniard claims he is excited to work with Lance Stroll, who he considers to be an “underrated” driver.
Stroll is one of the most opinion-dividing drivers in recent F1 history, with many fans believing that he only has a seat in the sport because of the money he can bring to a team.
One of the most significant ‘pay drivers’ in F1, Stroll has raced for Williams and Racing Point (now Aston Martin) and both these moves came about for the same reason – his father.
Lawrence Stroll is a Canadian billionaire businessman, and is an appealing investor for Formula 1 teams in need of financing.
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It was reported that prior to Lance’s Williams debut, Lawrence paid the team $80 million and when he purchased Racing Point Force India, he brought his son with him as part of the move.
Despite this pay driver tag, de la Rosa is looking forward to working with the Canadian, who is currently in his sixth season in the sport.
“I’m just looking forward to working with them [Alonso and Stroll],” he said when speaking to The Race.
The new ambassador can foresee a very fruitful relationship with the 2023 driver pairing of Alonso and Stroll.
“Fernando will work very well with Lance, because there is this age gap and Fernando is so mature now that they will help each other to become stronger as team-mates,” he said.
“One is 23 years old, and the other one is 41. The combination will be fantastic.”
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Whilst Stroll undoubtedly got his chance in the sport because of his financial backing, de la Rosa’s label of ‘underrated’ holds some weight, with the Canadian scoring double digit points in every season bar one.
Currently, Stroll has four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel as a team-mate and only finds himself 19 points behind the German despite the difference in pedigree and experience.
Soon to be paired with another veteran of the sport in Alonso, Stroll has the chance to prove he can mix it with the best in F1 and finally shake off the labels that he currently carries with him.