Fernando Alonso hails “very dedicated” and “committed” Lance Stroll after new F1 deal

Fernando Alonso says it's "great news" Lance Stroll has committed his immediate future to Aston Martin after signing a new F1 deal.

Ahead of this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix, Aston Martin announced that Stroll will remain with the team until “2025 and beyond”.

Stroll has been with the Silverstone-based outfit since 2019, when they were racing under the ‘Racing Point’ guise.

The Canadian has remained part of the team unsurprisingly given that his father, Lawrence Stroll, owned it.

Speaking to select media including Crash.net in Austria on Thursday, Alonso described his teammate as “very dedicated” and “committed” to being an F1 driver - two qualities critics have questioned of Stroll over the years.

“He’s a very dedicated person and committed to his job, he’s doing a lot of work in the simulator, he lives in the UK and that helps obviously but we’ve been always in constant talk about the team and about the things in the car,” Alonso said.

“Even the last two days we’ve been in WhatsApp constantly after Barcelona, even Sunday night after Barcelona we exchanged quite a big text and this kind of relationship that I don’t remember to have with other teammates in the past and he’s been always very open and asking a lot of things in driving side, in braking techniques, different kind of circuits as well.

“I’m here in this team for a very long term project in my life, in my career and even when I’m not driving I hope Lance takes the lead of this team and I will support him even when I’m off the wheel.”

On the renewal itself, Alonso believes it’s a welcome boost for the team, stressing how much of a team player Stroll is as they look to turn Aston Martin around following a difficult run of form.

“Yeah, great news I think for the team,” he added. “Obviously he was thinking a little bit on his future or whatever he was waiting for but for us I think it’s great news as he knows the team very well.

“I think apart for a few years in Williams he spent his career in this environment with the same group of people and he can improve things knowing what was Aston in the past, what it is now, what things have changed for better, if things change for worse, he has all this background. 

“I have this from other different teams so between both of us we can try to help and take the best solutions and yeah I think in this year and a half together we get along very well, so for me personally it’s also very positive news that I can work with someone that is just thinking in the same direction and just helping the team, not his individual wishes so it’s a good news for the team.”