The concept of ‘make or break’ might seem irrelevant in the case of Lance Stroll given the perception that he has a job for life with the rebranded Aston Martin Formula 1 team his father co-owns.
But whether that’s true or not, there are other ways for the arrival of Sebastian Vettel to be decisive in shaping Stroll’s future and how much of his potential he fulfils.
Unusually, this isn’t about how he needs to compare well to Vettel and the chance to prove his speed if he can match or even outpace him. Instead, it’s the unique learning opportunity of working closely with a four-time world champion.
While Vettel has primarily been recruited because his speed and experience of top teams, he can also be hugely beneficial for Stroll.
Vettel himself put it very simply when asked what his role was alongside Stroll. “I’m the old guy, he’s the young guy,” he quipped. The trope of the old hand and the young gun is a well-worn one, but this is a little bit different.
What is grating are the constant declarations of his incredible potential. It’s down to Stroll alone to show how good he is and so far, he’s a mixed bag
Firstly, Vettel isn’t that old – he’s 33 and with plenty of years in F1 ahead of him provided he’s motivated and can find a seat he wants – and Stroll isn’t that young in terms of his F1 career. While only 22, he’s entering his fifth season and has a reasonable bedrock of experience built up already. But working closely with Vettel, not so much in terms of being directly taught but by seeing how he works, could help Stroll to sharpen his skillset and approach.
Stroll is not a bad grand prix driver and he’s a perfectly decent performer. The fact he owes his place in the team to the fact his father heads the consortium that owns it is inescapable, and it’s acceptable – but what is grating are the constant declarations of his incredible potential and how wonderful a driver he is. It’s down to Stroll alone to show how good he is and so far, he’s a mixed bag.
He has had some impressive high points, particularly in wet conditions, and there is certainly more to come from him. But while last year was compromised by bad luck and the COVID-19 hangover he admits he underestimated, he has yet to prove he’s capable of stringing together a consistently strong season.
“He has a lot of talent and raw speed and he still can learn a lot,” says Vettel. “I’m happy to help. I’ve never been hiding anything from any team-mate in the past so I don’t see why I should start doing this now. I would have been happy the other way around when I was young.
“I only see it as a win-win. In terms of speed, obviously I’ve never raced beside him, so I will see, but I think some of the stuff that he’s been going through is not fair.
“He has proven many times that he’s very quick. If you just take the pole position in Turkey [in 2020] those were probably one of the most difficult track conditions I ever faced in 14 years of F1, not just to stay on track, but also to nail the lap, and he managed to get on pole.
“There needs to be a lot of talent to be able to do that. You had examples in the past of very young drivers coming in with a very young age and being very ready and sort of complete.
“But then others maybe just have a different path of development and they develop a little bit differently – I don’t want to say slower, but just differently and maybe get to their full potential a little bit later.
“It will be an exciting and challenging year for both of us. But I’m happy to share everything I know for the team and also for Lance.”
Vettel isn’t the kind of character to say such things just because he feels obliged to – and note he avoided any declarations of how great Stroll is as a driver. Instead he focused on the fact that he has proved there is ability there and that there is more to come.
How much is a question that can only be answered by Stroll continuing to raise his game. But he clearly frames him as an unrefined talent.
You can believe Vettel’s sincerity as well. Usually in this situation, the established hand might feel threatened by a younger team-mate – particularly one who whose father is in control – but Vettel isn’t that kind of character.
This is an unusual dynamic and one Stroll must take full advantage of. After all, while Vettel had a dire year last year – he joked he was “flattered” when I described his performance in 2020 as sub-standard given his previous record in a recent question – he is capable of amazing things.
So we come to Stroll. Regardless of what backing you have, money doesn’t make you drive a car well and Stroll has done that enough to show he is a capable driver, both on the way to F1 via dominating in F3 and at times once in grand prix racing.
Only Stroll knows how focused he really is and there is the sense that his overall motivation level isn’t the highest on the grid
But he’s also been inconsistent and shown a tendency to fade when things aren’t going for him. Just as his pole in Turkey showed how good he can be, so his tame run to ninth in the Abu Dhabi final last year showed how underwhelming he can also be.
The key is that Stroll genuinely buys into the fact it’s in his hands. He has a remarkable opportunity in an upwardly mobile team alongside an outstanding team-mate to make the best of himself. He doesn’t have to convince the watching world that he’s ruthlessly dedicated to the task, but he actually has to be if he is to justify his place at Aston Martin.
While Stroll wasn’t especially garrulous when asked about what he can learn from Vettel, he has also shown a few signs of embracing the specific areas where he can improve. After all, it’s more than just a case of hanging around building experience that will allow him to become more than just a decent F1 driver. He has to live and breath it, become obsessed with self-improvement. That’s what it takes to thrive in elite sport.
“Keep learning and addressing the things that I think I can improve on, and just execute, that’s what it’s all about,’ said Stroll when asked by The Race how he can improve to stack up well against Vettel.
“There’s areas in my mind, with my craft and the car set-up, that I think I can tie in together and do a better job and get more out of myself.
“If I look back at last season, there was a lot of potential and good things, and in other areas, there was things to still work on. Experience, as well misfortune, I really do believe that was a part of it. I look at Turkey, I think we had a chance to win the race but a small floor contact created a chunk of car damage under the floor and that kind of threw our race in the trash.
“You can look back at that and say you could still make that mistake again, but in hindsight that’s racing and those kind of things happen. So I think there’s an element of that too where you just have to expect some races unfold the way they unfold.
“If I can just focus on one thing, it’s keep pushing myself, learn as much as I can and improve on some of my weaknesses, which are changing from one event to the next.
“Maybe something Seb can bring to the team, the way he drives the car, the way he sets up the car, will be something I can learn from and I’ll be able to tie that into what I do. All those things are focus points.”
Turkey is a good example. While some suggested the damage was an excuse to cover his struggles after leading for so long, the drop off was so significant that it was entirely consistent with such a problem.
But as Stroll himself will admit, he also squandered a chance to win the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. After all, he took the restart ahead of eventual winner Pierre Gasly and third was a disappointment.
While Vettel has a reputation for being emotional when things go wrong, he’s also very strong when it comes to self-analysis. That’s something Stroll needs in order to continue to sharpen his skillset.
Only he knows how focused he really is and there is the sense that his overall motivation level isn’t the highest on the grid. But it’s encouraging to hear him talk about his “craft” and if Vettel can help him build that obsessive enthusiasm for leaving no stone unturned then there will be more to come from Stroll.
How much more is difficult to say, although there’s nothing to say he’s got a world championship in him.
But becoming a driver who can win on his day is certainly possible and if he soaks up everything Vettel has to show him like a sponge, he will be enhanced as a driver.
If he commits to that absolutely, then perhaps the ceiling is higher. If it’s more of the same this year, then the question marks will remain.
Ultimately, Stroll’s place at that team will be judged by how he performs on track. So far, he’s been perfectly fine with an assortment of high and low points, but he can answer all his critics with unarguable quality on track.
With this team – and team-mate – he has the means, motive and opportunity to do so. It’s down to him to make the most of it. If he does so then the questions over Stroll’s place in the team will fade.
Over to you, Lance.
