Lance Stroll rejects exit talk as Aston pins hopes on Adrian Newey

Lance Stroll has dismissed fresh claims that he asked his team-owning father to let him walk away from Formula 1.

The rumours originated with a Brazilian commentator, who suggested the Canadian had twice sought to quit - once last year and again this season - amid a string of mistakes and doubts about his appetite for racing. "I'm not sure where that came from," Stroll responded at Monza.

"I guess he just wanted to say something. There's no plan to do that and I have never wanted to." Instead, the 26-year-old said he is energised by what lies ahead at Aston Martin.

"There's not much reason not to smile at the thought of Adrian Newey building next year's car. These are exciting times," he said.

Franz Tost, long-time Red Bull insider and former Racing Bulls team boss, told Speed Week that Aston Martin is about to reap the rewards of Newey’s arrival. "There are probably several reasons," he said when asked about Red Bull’s 2025 slump.

"But the main factor is certainly the fact that several top people have left. Adrian Newey is simply a genius. There is no one else with his experience in the pitlane, and he will prove his expertise once again at Aston Martin."

The Silverstone outfit has already shown improvement this season, with Fernando Alonso highlighting the maturing capabilities of the team’s state-of-the-art base.

"I think to trust the tools that we have in the factory and bring things to the track that actually deliver what was expected from them is obviously a very good thing," said the two-time champion.

"We didn't have that in 2023 and in 2024. So yeah, it's good to go back to a more normal factory-track kind of correlation and develop the 2026 car next winter knowing that the tools are correct."