Aston Martin could hire £800k-a-year driver if Lance Stroll is ‘shown the door’ next season

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Aston Martin have had a second half of the 2024 Formula 1 to forget and their position in the Constructors’ Championship is beginning to look precarious.

Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll scored enough points before the summer break to secure 5th in the team standings even if they were some way off the pace of the top four manufacturers.

However, Aston Martin have taken a backwards step since then and now Alpine, Haas and RB know that one strong weekend could put them in reach of the British outfit.

Alonso has done most of the heavy lifting, scoring 62 of the team’s 86-point tally.

He sits 9th in the Drivers’ Championship and his nearest rival Nico Hulkenberg will need to double his tally in the final three race weekends of the campaign to match him.

Stroll, on the other hand, is fighting a losing battle against the likes of Yuki Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly to secure a top-10 finish.

The Canadian driver has failed to score a point in each of his last eight races.

Stroll had a bizarre spin at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, beaching his Aston Martin on the outside of turn 4 on the formation lap.

Brazilian fans were chanting Felipe Drugovich’s name while he was stuck, with the former F2 champion currently acting as Aston Martin’s reserve driver.

Journalist Ben Hunt was speaking on the Inside The Piranha Club Podcast about what Aston Martin could do if they wanted to replace Stroll.

Doing so may be easier said than done given his father’s position as executive chairman of the team.

Aston Martin could hire Yuki Tsunoda if they move Lance Stroll onto other projects

Stroll has failed to live up to expectations in F1 and few drivers are afforded more than 150 race starts without securing a victory.

Hulkenberg is the obvious current exception, but he’s outperformed teammates and expectations throughout his career without ever being in a quick car.

Alonso has shown over the past two seasons what Aston Martin are capable of and Stroll has rarely been able to match him.

READ MORE: Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll’s life outside F1 from net worth to girlfriend

Talking about the situation, Hunt said: “Tsunoda, he’s probably looking for 2026. you know. [at] Honda being in [at] Aston Martin.

“Could that move possibly happen that he moves across?

“[There’s] the theory that if he [Lance Stroll] was shown the door or moved across to the Le Mans hypercar project then that would allow a vacancy potentially for Tsunoda to come in to work with Honda.

“I mean this is all a long way off.”

Yuki Tsunoda will leave RB at the end of the 2025 F1 season

Stroll would be a very strong driver in Aston Martin’s Le Mans project, but whether he has the passion for racing if it isn’t in F1 is yet to be seen.

However, his father has invested heavily in the team and when 2026 rolls around, he’ll be expecting Aston Martin to be challenging at the front of the grid, which will put an even bigger spotlight on Stroll.

Tsunoda is in a difficult position himself and the £800k-a-year driver knows he needs to find a way to stay in F1 even if his immediate future is resolved.

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Red Bull don’t appear keen to promote Tsunoda and he’ll enter his fifth season with their sister team in 2025.

However, Tsunoda looks set to leave RB at the end of next year when Red Bull’s partnership with Honda comes to an end.

Tsunoda has previously mentioned his interest in joining Aston Martin and would be a very solid replacement for Stroll.

However, if Lawrence Stroll is serious about wanting to win championships then Tsunoda’s Red Bull colleague Max Verstappen might be Aston Martin’s top target.