In the world of Formula 1, teammate comparisons are always a hot topic. But this time, the spotlight comes from within the Aston Martin team itself. Pedro de la Rosa, former F1 driver and current team ambassador, has offered surprising praise for Lance Stroll, claiming the Canadian can be as quick as his teammate Fernando Alonso.
Since pairing up in 2023, Alonso has dominated their internal battle. Stroll trails significantly in qualifying (89-15) and points (335 to 131). The 2026 season is no different: Alonso is on average three tenths faster in qualifying. These numbers seem to confirm that Alonso remains at the top of his game, while Stroll has yet to consistently challenge him.
However, de la Rosa sees something beyond the raw data. On the Beyond The Grid podcast, he expressed his admiration for Stroll's speed. "Lance is super fast," he said. "You know, I love to watch data because I'm data-driven. And I like to see where one driver is faster than the other. And Lance, in many circuits, in many corners, is unbeatable."
He added that Stroll's speed is not limited to specific corner types. "It's not like you can say Lance is fast in high-speed, Fernando in... They're both very evenly matched. Lance is extremely quick in all types of corners. It's just that sometimes he's had some mistakes in qualifying or little things that then eventually if you don't qualify up there, it just compromises the whole weekend. That's where he's missing, you know, it's just sometimes putting everything together in quali."
According to de la Rosa, Stroll is actually capable of beating Alonso in qualifying. "But sometimes he gets it in quali and he outqualifies Fernando, which is like... I mean, we're talking about Fernando Alonso, you know. And in races, his race pace is impressive as well. He's very good managing tyres," praised the Spaniard.
Nevertheless, there is a condition that cannot be ignored. De la Rosa stressed that Stroll needs a car that suits his expectations to match Alonso's performance. "I think Lance is a very underrated driver," he continued. "When we improve the car and make it a bit more driver-friendly – I must say it's a very difficult car right now for many reasons, not only car, chassis, but also on the engine, we have to make improvements on driveability – whenever the car is driving properly, he's as quick as Fernando. There's no question about that."
This raises an intriguing question: can Aston Martin provide a more competitive car to unlock Stroll's full potential? With ever-changing technical regulations, car development is key. If the team succeeds, it's not impossible that Stroll will surprise and silence the critics that have haunted his career.
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