Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko is not convinced whether Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll possesses the desire and drive to achieve good enough results in Formula 1.
Stroll has been aligned with the Silverstone-based squad since 2018, but he has been classified as the second driver in the standings in all five full campaigns to date.
The Canadian trailed 132 points behind his team-mate Fernando Alonso last term and has 24 fewer points than the Spaniard from the opening nine rounds this season.
However, Stroll’s place within Aston Martin is all but secured each season owing to his father, Lawrence, leading the consortium that’s owned the side since mid-2018.
When asked about Stroll’s level as a driver, Marko expressed his doubts regarding Stroll’s overall worth ethic and whether he is capable of delivering consistent results.
“I remember his very good race leading up to his podium in Baku with Williams in 2017, and I remember him taking pole position from us (Red Bull) in Turkey in 2020,” Marko told Le Journal de Montréal on Stroll’s strengths.
“Since then, he’s had his ups and downs. Some very good races and some very ordinary ones.
“I wonder if he really wants to be a driver and if he works very hard to achieve good results.”
Answering the question of whether Stroll is good enough to keep his spot in the F1 grid, Marko added: “It’s difficult to say”
“It’s difficult to say because I don’t know him well enough and I’m not close enough to him to really judge his efforts. I’ve watched him. He has his ups and downs.”
Despite Marko’s comments, Stroll recently reaffirmed his total commitment to the Aston Martin venture and his excitement to remain involved with the British marque.
“We have a very exciting wind tunnel that’s being built, we have an incredible facility that’s now in Silverstone that we moved into last year, so there’s a lot of pieces of this puzzle that are really coming together,” he explained.
“Along with the talented people that have been in service for many years, a lot of new talented people have joined and are joining, which makes this project very exciting.
“So, in my mind, you know, definitely here [in Aston Martin] for the future. That’s where my head’s at.
“Like I said, how we’ve gone from a team that had 350, 400 people in 2019, and now we’re pushing the number to 1000 people. It looks very different at Silverstone now to 18 months ago.
“So yes, I’m definitely committed and excited to be a part of this project.”
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