Ralf Schumacher calls for Lance Stroll F1 exit: "No longer acceptable"

Former Formula 1 driver and Sky Germany analyst Ralf Schumacher has argued that now is the time for Lance Stroll to leave the championship.

Stroll joined the Aston Martin F1 team when it was under the Racing Point branding in 2019 after his father, Lawrence Stroll, led a consortium of investors to purchase the squad.

Schumacher claimed that Stroll "shouldn't really be in Formula 1 anymore" and that young drivers, such as 2025 Formula 2 champion Leonardo Fornaroli, deserve a seat in the series.

The Canadian driver has been outperformed by his current team-mate Fernando Alonso since the two-time champion joined the Silverstone outfit in 2023. Their first year as team-mates saw Alonso finish fourth in the drivers' standings with 206 points, and Stroll finished 10th with 74 points. Alonso finished ninth in 2024 with 70 points with Stroll in 13th with 24 points, and 2025 resulted in a 10th and 16th-place finishes for the duo.

"Strictly speaking, that's no longer acceptable. Honestly, when I see how well the Formula 2 winner [Fornaroli] has done, he deserves to be in a car like that a thousand times more," Schumacher said during the Sky Sports Germany podcast.

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"But I'm also curious to see what happens there, because, to be honest, even Lawrence Stroll [...] can't turn a blind eye to this issue. In my opinion, he's also a candidate who shouldn't really be in Formula 1 anymore. Definitely."

Lance Stroll, Aston Martin Racing

Photo by: Guido De Bortoli / LAT Images via Getty Images

The Aston Martin F1 team has seen a lot of change in recent years. Sebastian Vettel retired at the end of 2022, leading the Silverstone outfit to sign Alonso to drive alongside Stroll. Construction of a new state-of-the-art 400,000 sq ft factory began in 2021.

In addition, former Red Bull technical director Adrian Newey joined Aston Martin in 2025 as managing technical partner and will assume the role of team principal in 2026.

2026 will also welcome Honda to the team as its power unit supplier after the Japanese outfit parted ways with Red Bull Racing.

Currently, Stroll is contracted to Aston Martin until the end of 2026.

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