Fernando Alonso is F1’s most experienced driver, but Lance Stroll saw something he didn’t at Aston Martin

Lance Stroll is an easy target for criticism in Formula 1. His father Lawrence owns the Aston Martin team, leading to inevitable accusations that he’s only on the grid due to nepotism.

Stroll’s poor record against Fernando Alonso has intensified the narrative. Since the Spaniard joined Aston Martin in 2023, he’s outscored his teammate by 276 points to 104.

One journalist claimed last year that Aston Martin staff were ‘afraid’ to tell Lawrence Stroll the truth, which is that his son isn’t world championship material. Alonso offers a yardstick as a two-time title-winner and one of the highest-rated drivers in F1 history.

But speaking on the Beyond the Grid podcast, new team principal Andy Cowell has defended Stroll. He’s credited the Canadian for his contribution on the simulator.

Last year, Guenther Steiner suggested Stroll was unhappy in F1 and lacked passion for the sport. But Cowell spoke highly of his commitment to pushing Aston Martin forward.

Aston Martin reveal that Lance Stroll noticed something Fernando Alonso didn’t

Cowell says Stroll’s simulator work is crucial because it improves the correlation between the real AMR25 and its virtual counterpart. Some F1 drivers are reluctant to jump into the sim because they find it dull.

In one recent debrief, Stroll even flagged up an issue with the new car that escaped the attention of Alonso. The 43-year-old, who boasts a complementary skillset, seemed impressed.

Alonso is the most experienced driver in the history of F1 with 402 race starts under his belt. While he’s only 26, Stroll has already surpassed the 150 mark, having become the second-youngest driver ever back in 2017.

“He’s quick,” Cowell said of Stroll. “He’s here in the factory and he’s driving in the simulator and helping us develop. It’s a key thing – we need Fernando and Lance to be driving the simulator so that better correlates with the race car in the real world of the track.

“The great thing is that Lance is more sensitive to some parameters of the car, and Fernando’s more sensitive to other parameters. In one of the debriefs, Lance starts talking about one of the features of the car, and Fernando says ‘yeah, that’s a good point, I hadn’t picked up on that, but you’re right, we do need to improve that’.

“There’s a good partnership there. They work together exceptionally well.”

What Fernando Alonso said to Lance Stroll after superb Australian Grand Prix result

In the tricky Australian Grand Prix conditions last weekend, it was Alonso who faltered. He dipped a wheel on the grass at turn six and crashed heavily, bringing out the safety car.

Stroll, on the other hand, steered through the chaos to deliver sixth place, Aston Martin’s best result since the Azerbaijan GP last September. It also ended his personal scoreless streak, which stretched back to Hungary.

It’s not the first time he’s impressed on a slippery track. He took his one and only pole position to date at the 2020 Turkish Grand Prix, where the circuit was compared to an ice rink, and he qualified second as a rookie at a sodden Monza.

A classy Alonso praised the ‘excellent’ Stroll after Sunday’s race. He wrote ‘well done mate’ and added ‘vamos’ as Aston Martin look to take their unexpected momentum to China.