Lance Stroll has revealed that he spoke with Max Verstappen ahead of his upcoming GT racing debut this weekend at Circuit Paul Ricard. During what was originally scheduled to be the Bahrain Grand Prix weekend—later canceled due to the conflict between the United States and Iran—Stroll will instead take part in the opening round of the GT World Challenge Europe season with Comtoyou Racing.
The Canadian driver will be behind the wheel of an Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 EVO, sharing driving duties with Roberto Merhi and Mari Boya, a young talent from the Silverstone-based team.
Stroll ready for GT debut at Paul Ricard
The Aston Martin Formula 1 driver explained that the idea of competing in GT racing first emerged during the most recent F1 Grand Prix weekend in Japan. He also revealed that he had discussions with four-time world champion Verstappen about the plan.
Stroll said the concept took shape during a dinner on Saturday evening at Suzuka, when he and a group of friends were considering how best to use the unexpected break in the calendar caused by canceled races.
“The decision came when we were in Suzuka. On Saturday evening we were having dinner with some friends and talking about what to do during this break of about a month, since some races were canceled.”
“Jean-Michel [Baert, owner of the Comtoyou team] was very helpful and we managed to organize everything in about a week. Honestly, without him it would not have been possible to put everything together so quickly.”
Despite this being his first experience in GT racing, Stroll is not ruling out the possibility of fighting for victory straight away—an outlook that contrasts sharply with the challenges he has faced at the start of the Formula 1 season with Aston Martin.
“In Formula 1 you do not always have the chance to win. Here the level is very high, but even if it is our first time and we lack experience, if everything comes together—good setup, good feeling—winning is possible.”
“That does not really happen in Formula 1. And that is also a great motivation to be here.”
Verstappen’s advice
In an effort to make this opportunity a reality, Lance Stroll revealed that he turned to Verstappen for guidance, with the Dutch driver becoming increasingly involved in GT racing over the past year.
Verstappen recently took part in the NLS2 race at the Nürburgring and is expected to compete next month in the iconic 24 Hours event on the legendary “Green Hell.”
“I spoke briefly with Max in Suzuka when the idea came to me,” Lance Stroll explained.
“We talked about who to contact and, since he is already involved in GT racing, we discussed it a bit. Everyone enjoys driving GT3 cars—they are fun.”
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