‘I wonder if he really wants to be a driver’ – Helmut Marko questions Lance Stroll’s F1 commitment

Lance Stroll up close and serious

Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko wonders if Lance Stroll “really wants to be a driver” in Formula 1, despite some “very good races” in the sport.

The 25-year-old has scored three podiums and a pole position in his stint in Formula 1, though Marko added he “has his ups and downs” as a driver.

Helmut Marko questions if Lance Stroll ‘works very hard to achieve good results’

Stroll has reiterated his commitment to the Aston Martin project recently, though despite compliments from Marko for the standout performances he has shown in his career, the Red Bull motorsport advisor spoke to Canadian media about the Aston Martin driver.

“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 when asked about what he sees in Stroll.

“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.”

When asked if he’s doing enough in Formula 1 as it stands, Marko added: “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.”

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For Stroll himself, however, he recently reaffirmed his commitment to the cause at Aston Martin, wanting to put any concerns to bed that he was not all-in on the team’s progress moving forward.

Stroll told media including PlanetF1.com in Monaco: “It’s amazing to see how far we’ve come as a team for the last five years. I’ve grown so much as a team since we were in pink colours.

“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.

“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 for the future. That’s where my head’s at.

“For sure, I’m committed to this whole project.

“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.”