Lawrence Stroll has hired Lance Stroll again

Lance Stroll is staying at Aston Martin next season and will remain with the team into the new era of F1 regulations inbound for 2026, the team has announced.

Last year there were rumours that the Canadian driver - now in his eighth season in F1 - might see out the final year of his contract and then quit the sport for good: there were points in 2023 when he appeared to struggle for motivation, and he was spotted shoving his personal trainer after a poor qualifying session in Qatar.

Turns out that speculation was wide of the mark. “I'm super happy to have committed to staying with the team for 2025 and beyond,” said Lance. “It's amazing to see how far we've come in the last five years; we've grown so much as a team and there's still so much more to look forward to.”

Stroll made his debut with Williams as an 18-year-old in 2017, switching to Racing Point (now called Aston) when his father Lawrence Stroll led a consortium that rescued the team from - let’s not mince our words here - financial oblivion.

He’s finished on the podium three times in 153 starts, and incredibly grabbed pole position for the Turkish Grand Prix in 2020 with a staggering lap on a damp track that was almost a full five seconds quicker than championship leader Lewis Hamilton had managed in his Mercedes.

And he rightly earned widespread admiration for his efforts to get back on the grid in time for the start of the 2023 season, when he recovered from a nasty bike accident to score points with two broken wrists in the opening race. Say what you like about his racing record, that was impressive.

“We are delighted to confirm Lance's future with Aston Martin Aramco,” said team principal Mike Krack. “He has played a key role in building this team. His technical feedback, alongside his committed simulator work, has helped contribute to the continuous development of the car each season.

“The consistency and stability of both Lance and Fernando [Alonso] remaining with our team is a great platform to continue to realise our ambitions. We look forward to creating some more incredible memories and achieving further success together.”

Alonso signed a new multi-year deal with Aston back in April, so the team shouldn’t need to go driver shopping for a while now…