F1 star Lance Stroll ‘considering shock switch into new sport’ as he struggles to compete with Fernando Alonso
ASTON Martin driver Lance Stroll is considering a shock move from F1 to become a professional tennis star, according to reports.
The Canadian arrived on the grid in 2017 for Williams but has yet to prove himself as a potential world champion.
Stroll, 24, who switched to Racing Point in 2019 before they became Aston Martin in 2021, has claimed three podium finishes and set a pole position for the 2020 Turkish Grand Prix.
He has struggled this year alongside team-mate and two-time World Champion Fernando Alonso.
He currently lies ninth on the leaderboard just behind McLaren‘s Lando Norris with 47 points.
Alonso has six podium finishes this season and sits third in the drivers championship, while Stroll is yet to finish higher than fourth and sits a massive 102 points behind his team-mate.
With his disappointing record this season Ben Anderson, former editor of GP Racing, has claimed that Stroll may be set to walk away from the sport to switch to tennis.
Anderson said on The Race Podcast: “Stroll is too far behind Alonso but, really, he’s only likely to leave that team voluntarily.
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“There’s been some rumours floating around that he’s considering a switch to tennis.
“So if he makes a career switch like that, that opens up the seat.
“That said, I don’t think he’s keeping anyone off the grid who truly belongs there.
“I just think maybe he should be slightly lower down.”
The departure of Stroll would likely raise major questions over his replacement.
Anderson claimed AlphaTauri drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda, plus Williams’ Alex Albon and McLaren rookie Oscar Piastri, could be potential replacements.
He continued: “If the seat were theoretically to come up for 2024/25, there’s probably a few ahead of Daniel Ricciardo in that queue.
“Albon, Tsunoda has already been mentioned as somebody Honda would potentially like to bring onboard down the line.
“Even someone like Oscar Piastri, who’s making waves as a rookie.
“Once his original McLaren contract comes up he’d be someone you’d look at very seriously.”
Despite the claims, Stroll is still set to be racing at this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix which will be hosted at Zandvoort, North Holland.