It’s no Stroll in the park for ambitious Lance
Iam switching my Formula One focus away from the star performers to the also-rans, the no-hopers, call them what you may, who make up the grand prix numbers, but who are no less essential to the spectacle than the regular winners.
Their underwhelming and under-achieving presence fails to overshadow their hopes and dreams, not necessarily of victory or even a podium, but of putting on a fighting show to appear to be a fast rising star eager to pull clear of the backmarkers and only eager to give it their all right on the edge.
And that brings me to Lance Stroll, the newcomer-cumlearner in his debut season with Williams-Mercedes, historic backers and transporters of champions galore over decades of relentless effort — but right now strugglers at the wrong end of the championship chase.
Their car No. 18 is currently carrying teenager Stroll, who will come under as much scrutiny as he can endure at the utterly spotlighted upcoming Monaco Grand Prix, the slowest track of them all, but, equally, probably the most difficult and perilous for the champions as it is for the hopefuls way down the order.
It will be Stroll’s sixth GP — and his non-finishes and mishaps, with brake failure in Australia and costly crashes in Bahrain and China, with a last place in Spain, only boosted by a breakthrough 11th place in Russia after surviving a first-lap spin, have left him under intense pressure.
Father’s blessing
The 18-year-old’s career in F1 is all due to the bank rolling blessing of his mind-blowingly wealthy father, a treble dollar billionaire and fashion mogul. That support is further solidified by his mother, Claire, a Belgian-born fashion designer.
The Canadian father’s fervour for F1 encouraged him to sponsor Lotus before they pulled out of racing — but then the birth of his son fired him to fashion a race career for his offspring long before he was out of his pram. After being groomed in karts, Lance was dispatched to the Ferrari Academy — and along the way developed into a skilled, if sometimes reckless, driver with huge success in the Italian F4 class, where he reigned as 2014 champion, then clinched the Toyota Racing Series title a year later, and with an impressive 11 victories was crowned the European F3 king in 2016.
The father’s trust in his talented son’s burgeoning ability triggered astounding financial commitment — and 57-yearold Lawrence, I’m told, set about easing Lance onto the grand prix scene with Williams-Mercedes with an outlay … get this … of around $100 million (Dh367.2 million).
He has “gifted” Williams $50 million to buy Lance a seat alongside veteran Felipe Massa — and in the build-up to that outlay — no doubt keenly welcomed at Williams — and his son’s immediate future with the UK-based outfit the doting dad spent another $20 million sending the budding newcomer on a series of private and secret track test sessions, accompanied by a carefully recruited 20-strong team of engineers, five of them specialists on Mercedes engines.
And when young Stroll joined Williams, Lawrence organised and paid for a brand new, high-tech simulator to be set up at HQ, exclusively for Lance’s use. Astonishing stuff. All of it.