"It is not a clothing brand or a watch brand" - Aston Martin's Lawrence Stroll criticized by former F1 driver

Ex-F1 driver Jacques Villeneuve has criticized Aston Martin F1 team owner Lawrence Stroll’s methods of running a team. The Canadian champion also felt Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll had unusual incidents throughout the weekend.

Explaining the Aston Martin team owner’s situation in his blog, Villeneuve said:

“Running a Formula 1 team takes more than just piles of money, as Lawrence Stroll with Aston Martin is currently finding out. It is not a clothing brand or a watch brand, it is much more complicated. Especially if you are running a team for your son, finding solutions becomes all the more complicated.”

According to the 1997 F1 champion, Stroll senior has probably realized the complications of running a team for his son. Villeneuve’s advice to the Canadian billionaire was that running an F1 team takes more than sumptuous funding. There have also been speculations of Stroll being in talks with Audi for a strategic partnership in 2026.

Commenting on the Aston Martin drivers’ performances in Melbourne, Villeneuve said:

“Looking at this weekend you saw that Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll kept getting into trouble. Stroll’s incident with Latifi in qualifying was simply embarrassing. He also blamed the track for the crash, which is arguably the strangest explanation for a crash ever. And in the race we saw that Stroll certainly does use his mirrors, given his zigzagging tactics. Teammate Vettel is clearly not enjoying himself at all, I think he would rather be at home. True, he also made mistakes at Ferrari, but his lapses this weekend did not fit in with his stature.”

The former Williams driver believes the two drivers had multiple incidents throughout the weekend, out of which Stroll’s clash with Latifi in qualifying was the highlight of the weekend. Villeneuve found Stroll’s explanation for the incident bizarre and believes the Canadian driver needed to use his mirrors correctly. As far as Vettel’s performance was concerned, the Williams champion believes the German preferred being at home rather than driving that weekend.

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Jacques Villeneuve questions Aston Martin team owner's style of running the team

The 1997 world champion has questioned Lawrence Stroll's style of operating and managing the team. According to Villeneuve, senior Stroll will have to handle his drivers unlike his businesses, or the verbal exchanges will be complicated. The Canadian driver further felt that team sponsors would question the damage from the crashes and that the troublesome weekend did not paint a pretty picture from a PR standpoint.

Questioning the ramifications of the crashes, the F1 champion said:

“Although there was nothing major – no chassis was lost – from a PR point of view they all add up. Sponsors don’t like that – apart from the damage, it also costs money because of the missed points. The question now is, what will the big boss Lawrence Stroll do? If he handles his drivers the way he does business, those will not be pleasant conversations.”

Empathizing with the atmosphere in Silverstone, Villeneuve said:

“The atmosphere in the factory must also be on a knife edge, I don’t imagine you are made to feel welcome there at the moment. In the long term it will not be an easy situation to solve; they have built a car comparable to a Williams or a Haas, but those teams managed to build theirs with a lower budget.”

Although Villeneuve compares Aston Martin’s challenger to Williams and Haas, the latter two teams have managed to score points since the season commenced. Haas has 12 points and is seventh in the standings and Williams scored its maiden point. Aston Martin, however, is at the bottom of the standings with zero points. Stroll has also earned reprimands over the Australian weekend, gathering 8 points to his license in 12 months, which edges him closer to a race ban if the trend continues.