F1 News: Lance Stroll Replacement Rumors Take Off After Huge Poster Error In Austin
An erroneous poster displaying Aston Martin reserve and test driver Felipe Drugovich instead of Lance Stroll at Circuit Of The Americas boosted rumors of his replacement, shocking fans about the sudden swap decision by the team.
The embarrassing error was committed by the United States Grand Prix organizers. Stroll has been a part of F1 since he joined Williams in 2017, before moving on with Racing Point which was then rebranded as the Aston Martin F1 team in 2021.
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What led many people to believe the poster in Austin is the Canadian driver's stagnant performance this season, which is more evident after being compared with teammate Fernando Alonso's performance. The latter has been the sole driver in helping the team stay afloat in fourth with 230 points in the championship standings.
Drugovich has been taking time off from full-time racing after securing this Formula 2 title in 2022. Given his outstanding season last year, it was expected that he might soon find a spot within the team in the premier class. With all fingers pointing at Stroll, fans fell for the poster mistake quite easily.
Since the grave mistake circulated like wildfire on social media, the organizers were quick to correct it by giving Stroll his spot on the poster. However, the error reignited questions about Stroll's replacement in the team as he is 136 points behind Alonso in fourth.
Stroll's place in the team was recently questioned in Qatar following an incident after he had been knocked out during the first session of qualifying, in which he lapped 1.122 seconds slower than team-mate Fernando Alonso. The frustrated Aston Martin driver threw his steering wheel out of his car and pushed his trainer out of the way after qualifying 16th.
The FIA issued a warning to Stroll for his misconduct after receiving an apology from him. However, many pointed out that maybe, he wasn't dealt with in a strict manner as any other driver because of his father Lawrence Stroll's ownership of the team.
With just five rounds remaining this season, the Silverstone-based team is in a tight battle with McLaren for the fourth spot in the constructors' championship. Maybe, if Stroll was an equally strong contender as Alonso, things would've looked a lot better for the team.
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