Former F1 driver and World Champion Jacques Villeneuve explained why he believes
Lance Stroll deserves a seat in Formula 1.
In general, people tend to criticize Lance Stroll and suggest he doesn't deserve a seat in F1 because he drives for a team owned by his father.
Although there might be some other political influences that help other drivers, none of them have the advantage of their father owning a team.
The 1997 World Champion sees Lance Stroll's father (
Lawrence Stroll) owning a team as exactly the reason for the 25-year-old deserving of a seat in F1. He told
Instant Casino:
"Lance Stroll is one of the most deserving drivers to continue racing in F1 because his dad bought the team."
"Of course, he deserves to be there. Aston Martin's team could have gone bankrupt if not for Lawrence Stroll, so he deserves to employ his son and keep him in F1, it's simple."
On the one hand, the Canadian driver currently has
twice fewer points in the Championship than his double World Champion teammate
Fernando Alonso. On the other hand, their
head-to-head score for the last eight grand prix weekends is even- 4-4. Villeneuve continued:
"Lance isn't running last and off the pace, he's matching Fernando Alonso's level. The minute Alonso re-signed with the team, he has struggled and Lance has looked the better driver since."
"Lance knows he's in F1 because his dad has bought the team, now he needs to show he is quick."
Villeneuve pointed out that Lance Stroll isn't the only F1 driver from a wealthy family and that if he showed more of his speed, it probably wouldn't even be mentioned that his father owns the team- just like with the examples he named.
"He needs to realise there have been other millionaire drivers who had the same privileges, like Ayrton Senna, Niki Lauda, and Lando Norris. Lance is lucky, but there's nothing wrong with that and he needs to show he can race fast."