F1 2025 recap: Lance Stroll had little to say about his toughest year to date

Lance Stroll is something of an oddity in Formula 1 these days. After showing flashes of talent in the feeder series and moments of brilliance in F1 – like a shock pole position at a wet Turkish Grand Prix – he's now become something of an also-ran.

Nowhere was this more apparent than in the 2025 season, Stroll’s ninth in Formula 1, as the Canadian struggled with his car and his own consistency over the course of the 24-round campaign. In a year that proved to be a struggle for his Aston Martin team, Stroll was consistently outperformed by team-mate Fernando Alonso and struggled to 16th in the drivers’ standings.

In qualifying, the picture was clear: Alonso outperformed Stroll ahead of every single grand prix this year, with the Canadian only besting his team-mate over one lap ahead of the China sprint.

In race trim, the difference was less clear-cut. Stroll’s year got off to a positive start as the Canadian showed his talents in the wet to take sixth place at the season-opener in Australia. Alonso, meanwhile, crashed out of the race.

Stroll’s positive start was followed by ninth in China, before his points-scoring run dried up. Six point-less results followed, before complications following a wrist injury he sustained while cycling in 2023 forced the Canadian to sit out the Spanish Grand Prix.

Sixth in Australia was Lance Stroll's best result in 2025

Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images

The time away from injury was short-lived, but his tally of point-less results continued until the British Grand Prix – where his strategy at the start helped him jump from 18th to third. However, high degradation in the drying conditions saw him drop back from third to finish seventh. His team-mate fared worse, however, lining up seventh and finishing in ninth.

The story was the same after F1’s summer break as well. Seventh in the Netherlands earned Stroll a few extra points, before a slew of finishes in the high-teens left the 27-year-old sounding like he'd rather be anywhere but driving an F1 car in his post-race interviews. On the rare occasion that he had something to say about another lacklustre result, his answers barely strayed beyond a few one-word quips.

His rivals had more to say about Stroll’s form, however, and he was criticised for his aggressive defence against Gabriel Bortoleto in Brazil – with rookie Franco Colapinto claiming that “Stroll is just always taking people out” after the race. The Canadian was on the receiving end of such a crash at the next race in Las Vegas, where he was taken out on the first lap following a crash with Bortoleto – who was found to be at fault for the incident.

A 10th place finish in Abu Dhabi brought Stroll’s season to a close – securing his 16th-place finish in the drivers’ standings. He ended the year 23 points adrift of Alonso, who finished the year 10th and ready to never set foot in his 2025 F1 car again.