Lance Stroll to make surprise GT appearance during April F1 break

Formula 1 driver Lance Stroll will take advantage of an unexpected break in the Formula 1 calendar to contest his maiden GT race.

The Canadian is named on the entry list for the opening round of the GT World Challenge Europe at Paul Ricard on 11-12 April.

Stroll will drive an Aston Martin Vantage GT3 entered by Comtoyou Racing, sharing the driving duties with former Manor grand prix driver Roberto Merhi and Formula 3 race winner Mari Boya.

The 27-year-old has prior experience in sportscar racing, having taken part in two editions of the Daytona 24 Hours in the mid-2010s before prioritising his commitments with Williams and then Aston Martin in Formula 1.

However, both those Daytona outings came in prototype machinery rather than a production-based GT racer. Stroll made his debut at the IMSA SportsCar Championship classic in a Ford-powered Riley DP in 2016, before switching to Jackie Chan RC Racing’s Oreca 07.

Nicolas Baert, Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3

Photo by: Markus Toppmöller

GT World Challenge Europe is among the leading sportscar racing championships globally and is run by Stephane Ratel’s SRO organisation. Ratel was instrumental in creation of the GT3 platform, together with the FIA, with more than 1000 cars being built to the rules to date.

The series features a mix of endurance and sprint events, split into the Endurance Cup and Sprint Cup. The Paul Ricard opener will follow the endurance format, with a single six-hour race scheduled for Saturday of the race weekend.

Stroll’s GT appearance comes in the wake of renewed interest among F1 drivers in sportscar racing. Most notably, four-time world champion Max Verstappen has increasingly ventured into this discipline in the last 12 months, with the Nordschleife-based NLS even adjusting its schedule to allow him to take part in last month’s second round of the season.

The Red Bull driver, who has repeatedly voiced his frustration with F1 following the introduction of new hybrid rules, is also set to contest the Nurburgring 24 Hours for the first time this year.

The Dutchman raced the Ferrari 296 GT3 on his first top-class appearance at the NLS last year, before switching to a Mercedes AMG GT3 entered by Winward Racing under the Verstappen Racing banner in March.

Verstappen has also tested the Vantage GT3 on several occasions, the same car Stroll will now drive at Paul Ricard in the coming week.