David Croft makes huge Lance Stroll exit prediction with ‘mojo lost’

Henry Valantine 2023年8月025:15 PM

Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll at the Canadian Grand Prix. Montreal, June 2023.

Sky Sports F1 commentator David Croft has predicted that Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll may leave Formula 1 at the end of the 2024 season, to “find something that fulfils him more”.

Stroll broke into Formula 1 as one of the youngest drivers in its history when he took on a seat with Williams in 2017, and has achieved a pole position and three podiums to date.

He has struggled to match a dominant team-mate in Fernando Alonso at Aston Martin so far this year however, with 47 points compared to 149 for the two-time World Champion as Formula 1 heads into its summer break, and the Sky F1 commentator believes the Canadian has “lost his mojo” as the year has progressed.

David Croft makes 2024 exit prediction for Lance Stroll

康复后严重的手受伤,兄弟ken bones following an accident before the start of the season, Stroll performed admirably in his Aston Martin to bring his car home in sixth place.

His P4 finish in Australia two rounds later is his best of the year so far, but the 24-year-old hasoverall been one step behind Alonsoin qualifying and race conditions for much of the season.

Given father Lawrence Stroll owns Aston Martin and has played a significant background role in his Formula 1 career to date, coupled with several strong on-track performances, his future in the sport has rarely been up for debate.

But with his recent struggles, Croft questioned whether or not the Canadian would want to commit himself to the sport beyond the end of next season, and wondered if motorsport was even his preferred calling when he was younger, given his other sporting talents.

“I want to see the Lance Stroll back that turned up in Bahrain, because I think he’s lost his way a little bit,” Croft told theSky Sports F1 podcast.

“I think he’s lost his mojo, and whatever’s happened, Lance just doesn’t seem to be as motivated now as he was at the start of the season.

“I do wonder, he’s the one driver on the grid that you think: ‘You’re guaranteed a job as long as your dad is there’, and we’ve never actually talked about contracts for Lance Stroll.

“We’ve never looked at his future elsewhere, but I just have a little feeling that in about a year and a half’s time, Lance Stroll will race his last race in Formula 1 and go off and do something else.

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“Because I just I think he’s losing his mojo. I don’t think Formula 1 was the sport he wanted to go into when he was younger.

“I mean, he was a massive tennis talent when he was younger, one of the best youngsters in Canada at the time, and I just wonder if he might go off and find something that fulfils him more and brings more excitement to him.

“I’m not saying he’s not enjoying driving in Formula 1. I think there are times he is, but I think I look at him sometimes and think: ‘You want to be doing something else, don’t you?’

“And I think his dad will realise as chairman as well that it’s a business and I need two drivers. So, if he’s not getting the results, I think an easy decision is made.”