Lance Stroll has become the latest driver to be linked to a team switch for 2018, with his name being dropped into the hat of the F1 silly season. Stroll originally looked set to remain at Williams for a second season, however, his future is now in question at the Grove-based team since Italiaracing linked Stroll’s father, Lawrence, to Force India.
Lance Stroll could move to Force India through sponsorship deal
At the end of 2017, it is looking more and more likely that Force India will change its name in an attempt to make itself a more internationally appealing brand to attract more sponsors while Vijay Mallya and Subrata Roy are still dealing with serious legal issues.
Mallya believes that with greater finances, Force India will be able to take the fight to F1’s top three teams of Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull Racing, and be involved in the fight at the front of the grid more often. “With a little bit more in our pocket we can make that incremental step and certainly fight in the top three consistently,” he said.
Lawrence Stroll is being linked to a major sponsorship deal with Force India, and it is possible that if Stroll does buy into the team, that his son could move there in the future.
Lance Stroll graduated from European Formula 3 to Formula 1 this year, and it took a while for the young Canadian to get up to speed. At the Canadian Grand Prix however, Stroll had a break though weekend and secured his first points finish in F1. Since then, he has continued to impress, finishing inside the points in Austria and impressively finishing on the podium in Azerbaijan, although he most recently had underwhelming performances in Britain and Hungary
Stroll’s podium was one of Chase Carey’s favourite moments of 2017 so far, saying to Auto Bild that “In sport, it’s a great story when an underdog suddenly has success.”
“Stroll had to listen to all that criticism for months, and everything about his father’s money as well, and then he did his reply on the track in Baku. I would like to see more of that,” he added.
With Sergio Perez looking set to remain at Force India for 2018 and it being likely that Esteban Ocon will stay for another season, it is hard to imagine that Stroll could join Force India in the coming months, especially due to the team’s current driver pairing which is arguably one of the strongest in F1.
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