Ralf Schumacher stands by Lance Stroll comments amid Aston Martin boycott

Ralf Schumacher says he stands by his belief that Aston Martin will not win a World title with Lance Stroll behind the wheel, with the Canadian’s stats “the reality” behind his thinking.

Stroll has had mixed results this season. While he started strong with back-to-back points finishes, he has managed just two top ten results since.

Ralf Schumacher: That’s just the reality

Sitting on 26 points, where he’s tied with his teammate Fernando Alonso who didn’t score in the first eight races of the season, Stroll faces a difficult challenge keeping pace with the Spaniard after a crash in qualifying at the Dutch Grand Prix.

Aston Martin looked to the surprise challenger to McLaren around the Zandvoort circuit as Stroll was third fastest in FP1 ahead of Alonso before the Spaniard claimed second place in Friday’s second outing.

Whether Stroll could’ve joined his teammate at the front was left unanswered when the 26-year-old crashed heavily at Turn 3 in a chassis-breaking impact.

Nonetheless, McLaren noted Aston Martin’s pace.

“Aston and Fernando, they were quick in FP1 and FP2,” said Norris, “and have been [quick] recently. Certainly a bit closer than what we would like for the time being.”

Aston Martin wasn’t able to carry that through into qualifying where Alonso finished 10th, while a second crash of the weekend left Stroll in 20th place without a time on the board.

“Very frustrating,” Stroll told the media, including PlanetF1.com. “Nothing more to say, really. Frustrating.”

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Stroll trails Alonso 15-0 in the F1 2025 qualifying head-to-head battle.

It’s a deficit that Schumacher says means Stroll will never win a World title.

“If Lawrence seriously wants to become a Formula 1 World Champion, he has to fire his son,” the German said in an interview with Sport Bild. “Lance’s defeat in qualifying against his teammate Fernando Alonso says it all.

“The father has to decide: emotion or success. If he’s serious, he’ll have to completely rethink the driver pairing for 2026. I think he knows that, but the decision is difficult for him.”

In response, Aston Martin is understood to be refusing Schumacher and Sky Deutschland colleagues more than essential access to its team personnel, with the team of the opinion that the broadcaster has been unbalanced in its coverage.

Despite that, Schumacher says he stands by his comments.

Speaking on a recent Sky Deutschland Backstage Boxengasse podcast, the former F1 driver said: “My view is that for 2026, with Fernando Alonso and also his son, if the car improves a bit, I think they won’t be too badly positioned that year, because everything is essentially new now.

“Adrian Newey is just getting started as well. That means 2026 will be an important year, where it might actually be wise not to make any changes.

“But my comment went beyond that, regarding 2027. Fernando Alonso is now at an age where you have to say he won’t be racing in Formula 1 for the next ten years.

“The same applies to Lance Stroll, who, of course, has a disastrous qualifying record. That’s just the reality, even if his race performances are occasionally okay.

“You have to question that if you truly want a ‘six-star’ season and eventually aim for the World Championship – you’ll likely need a stronger driver lineup overall.

“That was my point, and I stand by it. I believe the current package won’t be enough to genuinely compete at the very front.”

Although Stroll is trailing Alonso in their qualifying stats, and was behind his teammate in their first two seasons together, this year he is on a par with the double World Champion in the Drivers’ standings with the teammates having both scored 26 points across the opening 14 events of the season.

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