Lance Stroll says drivers are “not trying to be Hollywood stars” in the wake of a mixed reception to the opening ceremony of the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
A 30-minute music show took place on the grid on Wednesday evening with the 20 drivers introduced to spectators at the culmination of the ceremony.
Stroll was also one of several drivers who opted not to attend an event at the Wynn hotel later on Wednesday evening for which F1 boss Stefano Domenicali had requested all drivers be present.
“It’s not really my thing,” said Stroll on the ceremony. “Didn’t sign up for that part of it all.
“I mean, we’re racing drivers, you know. Yeah, I think sometimes kind of… goes too much in the whole like Hollywood star side of things, you know. I just like racing cars, not trying to be a Hollywood star.
“I guess for the sport it’s great we come to places like this, we expand the American market, it’s great for the team, great for the business, Formula 1 needs to think about that.
“It’s huge, huge for the valuation of the business, sponsors, attracting more sponsorship, hopefully more American sponsorship, three races in America, but I hope we don’t just go into the kinda avenue of these kinds of races and lose the purity of Formula 1 as it’s nice to have the balance.”
Stroll also revealed that he missed Aston Martin’s track walk amid confusion over timings, mistaking 02:00 on Wednesday for 02:00 on Thursday.
“I don’t even know what time it is anymore, I’m just here, [it’s a] bit of a funny schedule,” he said.
