Yuki Tsunoda became the latest driver to extend his contract at the Canadian Grand Prix last weekend. The RB star had been among the group of drivers approaching the end of his deal.
But much like Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, Williams driver Alex Albon and Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, he’s now committed for 2025. The team took up the option to keep him on board.
At the start of the year, more than half the grid were out of contract, but now the majority have settled their futures. There are still nine who need to put pen to paper if they’re to stay in F1.
That group is led by Carlos Sainz, who’s leaving Ferrari to make way for Lewis Hamilton. Sainz is expected to join Williams, which could spell the end for Logan Sargeant.
Eight-time race-winner Daniel Ricciardo is still fighting for a new deal alongside Tsunoda at RB, while ex-Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas could lose his seat at Sauber following the signing of Nico Hulkenberg. Teammate Zhou Guanyu is in the same boat.
Esteban Ocon is leaving Alpine, likely for Haas at the expense of Kevin Magnussen, but the French team want to keep Pierre Gasly. That just leaves Lance Stroll, who’s in a unique position.
Helmut Marko unsure over Lance Stroll motivation
Stroll is in the final year of his contract at Aston Martin but his father Lawrence owns the team. That means he isn’t under threat of being replaced.
Ordinarily, the Canadian may be under pressure. While he’s out-qualified Alonso at five out of nine races this year, he’s only beaten him twice in the Grands Prix.
Stroll has scored less than half the number of points (17 vs 41) and his inconsistency may put Aston at risk in the constructors’. Their double-score in Montreal was sorely needed after RB began to chip away at their cushion in fifth place.
There’s no indication that the 25-year-old will look to leave, but Red Bull director Helmut Marko isn’t sure whether he truly has a passion for the sport. Speaking to Le Journal de Montreal, he recalled some of the highs of his three-podium F1 career but also noted his ‘mediocre’ results.
“I remember his very good race that led to his first podium in Baku with Williams in 2017,” he said. “And I remember that in 2020 he won the took pole position from us in Turkey.
“Since then he has had ups and downs. Some very good races and some mediocre ones. I wonder if he really wants to be a driver and if he works very hard to achieve good results.”
Jacques Villeneuve has already asked similar questions of Stroll
Marko isn’t the first to ponder whether Stroll’s heart is in F1. Speaking during the Canadian GP weekend, his compatriot Jacques Villeneuve asked whether he ‘ever wanted’ to race at this level.
Villeneuve suspects that Stroll senior may be living out his own racing dreams through his son. It was his investment in Aston Martin that allowed the former Williams man to join.
Stroll has shown a degree of disdain for some of the commitments that come with being an F1 driver. One journalist says he ‘doesn’t even look at you’ during interviews, and has no ‘enthusiasm’ when dealing with commercial partners.
Fans of the 152-race driver would point to the start of the 2023 season, when he battled to be fit for the first race in Bahrain after a bicycle crash in the winter. Those certainly weren’t the actions of a driver short on fighting spirit.
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