In this new episode of ‘Head Eleven Van’, let’s see Lance Stroll. The Canadian has been the target of constant criticism for many years, but is this always fair? His performance on the asphalt was not without merit.

Lance was born in Montreal on October 29, 1998, so he rides under the Canadian flag. Good truth, he also has Belgium. It was his mother’s fault. As we say, Lance came from a good family. He is the son of Lawrence Stroll and Claire-Ann Callens. Lawrence is a considerably successful achiever. He is certainly the team owner of Aston Martin, but also the former owner of Michael Kors, the co-investor of Tommy Hilfiger and the owner of the Mont-Tremplant circuit. Claire-Ann is a successful fashion designer. Lance has an older sister, Chloe.

Early years in karting

You could say that Lance was called by the golden spoon, but of course there is no immediate reason to say he is a rich kid, or is driving wrong in Formula 1. To get the best picture of it, you have to look at his performance on asphalt. They are not really without merit. Lance started his motorsport in karting, where he first entered the competition in 2008. Here he quickly took the stage at several Canadian Championships. In 2010 he embarked on a winter tour of Florida, where he was able to succeed in the Rotax Micro Max class.

Ferrari Driver Academy

That year, at the age of eleven, he also became the youngest driver to sign a Formula 1 contract. The big Ferrari took the young Lance to the Ferrari Driver Academy. Between 2011 and 2013, he competed in several European Championships at the CIK-FIA, including the European and World Karting Championships. Here he finished sixth. In 2014, Lance later switched to Formula One racing, where he joined other Ferrari juniors in the Florida Winter Series. In this class he took a polar position and two podium seats.

Formula 4 in Formula 3

Then it was the turn of the Italian Formula 4 Championship. Lance was very successful here because he won the title with ten wins. In 2015 he switched to the Toyota Racing Series in New Zealand. That same year, the 22-year-old driver switched back to European Formula 3. He went here for the Prema team, but quickly became negative in the news after causing accidents in Italy and Belgium. As a result, he was suspended for the last race at the spa. However, it was an immediate turning point for young Canadians.

He improved his behavior and continued to score for the rest of the season. In Germany, Lance had his first victory. The following year he continued to drive in Formula 3. This season, however, he dominated the class and eventually became the champion with fourteen wins and 507 points.

Introduced to Formula 1 Williams

This is how Lance came into the picture in Formula 1 since 2016. He left the Ferrari Driver Academy and became a test driver for the Williams team. He then made his debut as a racing driver in 2017. It caused a great deal of controversy in Formula 1 because it was a big bag from Father Lawrence. Sick Williams can use a financial injection.

Lance had a changeable season and received a lot of criticism, especially when he performed better. However, during the Azerbaijani Grand Prix, he abruptly finished third, becoming the youngest Formula 1 driver on stage after Verstappen. However, he made many mistakes that year as well. Fair enough, these are often unnecessary. Not particularly for a rookie, but because of his background, it was always considered too heavy.

In 2018, Stroll continued to drive for Williams. That year, however, the team was far from a competitive car, so good results failed to work. The following year, Stroll was again subject to criticism. Father Lawrence accepted the Force India team and it was placed under acquisition. He renamed it Racing Point and gave Lance one of the two seats. Eventually Stephen O’Connor had to leave and temporarily disappeared from the game. This Lance was not appreciated by everyone as some people thought that Okan was a great driver.

Last season, however, he really showed up again to cut from the racing tree. For example, when qualifying in Turkey, he dropped Max Verstappen in the pouring rain, thus taking his first polar position in Formula 1. He was also strong on Sunday. On wet asphalt, he quickly advanced beyond the rest of the field toward victory, but threw a spanner into the team’s dubious selection work for an extra pit stop. He eventually finished eleventh in the championship.

Aston Martin

Next year Stroll will drive to Aston Martin. From Racing Point, it emerged after another acquisition from Father Lawrence. Here he will replace Sergio Perez next to four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel. Again, a lot of criticism arose. Many fans thought it should have led to Lance Sergio.

So Lance is not the most popular driver at all point. Understandable to himself, because he would not have done this without his father’s money, though he can never say for sure. However, he was not the only driver who came in with a huge wallet. Look at legends like Fernando Alonso, Michael Schumacher or Niki Lada. These all started as pay drivers.

Money plays a big role in Formula 1. No one can deny it. However, based on the results, there is no denying that Lance can actually perform better. There are drivers with better cars who are not on stage. Besides, let’s be honest: if you have a cake behind the wheel, you don’t include it in Formula 1.

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