Following a ‘pointless’ run at Monaco, Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso have started the alarming horns for Aston Martin. The British team only managed the P14 and P11 spots, while others ran off with points.
However, the 2024 Canadian GP brings in a bit of fresh air for them with Montreal’s ‘very own’ Lance Stroll. Today, the ‘hometown hero’ came out to spread some positivity ahead of Sunday’s race.
Lance Stroll focused’ for ‘special’ homecoming race on Sunday’s 2024 Canadian GP at Montreal
In today’s press briefing, Lance Stroll-the Aston Martin’s #2 racer-sat down alongside the likes of ‘Checo’ Perez, Lewis Hamilton, and Oscar Piastri for a rapid-fire questioning ahead of the 2024 Canadian Grand Prix.
Lance, the Canadian local hero, kicked off the media session at Montreal today. Quizzed about the race, he confessed that it “always special coming back” to his hometown track at the legendary Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
“It’s home. I grew up here, so, you know, 20 minutes away from the track, so it’s always special coming back.”
The interviewer, seeming curious, asked him about his first visit to this iconic racetrack. Bringing Michael Schumacher into the mix, Stroll raced back to his childhood memories, and explained:
“In my young days, yeah, when I was just a little guy. I remember the Schumacher days, early two thousands. Coming to watch the race here was always a very exciting weekend.”
“I mean, it inspired me in many ways to be here today, you know!”
Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, well-known for its ‘semi-street’ layout, is one of the trickiest racetracks in the current F1 calendar. It’s a track of long, fast straights, hard-braking corners and walls close enough to worry even the most experienced drivers. Despite this, Lance Stroll has managed four ‘points-scoring’ runs in five Grand Prix. Reflecting on this, he added,
“I mean, it’s a fun track, you know. It’s got some big curbs and technical aspects of it. You know, not much margin on exits, with the walls being close. So, I’ve always enjoyed the challenge here.”
“And the weather can always be a fun factor too, which it looks like it might be this weekend. So, we’ll see.”
With rain forecasted to pour throughout the race weekend, Aston Martin, spearheaded by Stroll and Fernando Alonso, might have a tough run this year. Noting this, a reported asked whether his team will be more competitive this weekend than they were in Monaco last time out. To this, he replied:
“I hope so. We seem a little more competitive on the tracks with longer straights, and our car is, I think, pretty efficient. So, I hope.”
Stroll ‘definitely’ wants to ‘continue being a part’ of Aston Martin in 2025
During this interview, his contract situation at Aston Martin was brought up by a reporter. Stroll, whose contract runs out this year, has always been vocal about continuing with the Silverstone-based team. Revealing his ‘staying with Aston’ intentions, he further added,
“That’s where my head’s at, for sure. Seems to be a pretty popular question that I’ve been getting asked recently. And yeah, it’s super exciting.”
“Everything that’s happening at Silverstone and the project with the team and how we’ve grown over the last few years. And we continue to grow. So, it’s definitely in my mind to continue being a part of that.”
However, while talking about it, he affirmed that he is “really focused“ for the race weekend ahead of the 2024 Canadian GP at the iconic Montreal track.
“But, really focused on Montreal this weekend and enjoying my home race and trying to have a good result this weekend.”
In any case, Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso will now take out their AMR24s tomorrow for the first practice session. Aston Martin will surely be looking for some ‘hometown spell’ from Stroll this Sunday.
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