Lance Stroll's GT debut ends in retirement at Paul Ricard

Lance Stroll's first foray into GT3 racing concluded with a quiet retirement, as his #18 Aston Martin faced a series of setbacks before a gearbox issue ended its race early. The Aston Martin Formula 1 driver, sharing the car with Roberto Merhi and Mari Boya, finished 48th in the GT World Challenge Europe's six-hour event, while his Comtoyou Racing teammates in the #7 car claimed victory.

Why it matters:

Stroll's participation highlights the growing trend of F1 drivers seeking competitive seat time during breaks in the calendar, testing their skills in different disciplines. While the result was underwhelming, his performance—including setting the eighth-fastest lap of the race—demonstrates his adaptability, even as the outing underscores the steep learning curve and unpredictable challenges of endurance racing.

The details:

• Stroll only drove the final stint in the dark, with limited prior night running due to technical issues during practice.
• Co-driver Mari Boya started 15th but fell back after a collision that resulted in a stop-and-go penalty, dropping the car out of the top 30.
• The car accumulated additional penalties for track limits and ignoring blue flags before Stroll took the wheel.
• When Stroll entered with under two hours left, the car was in 38th position. Despite his pace, progress was limited before the gearbox failure forced retirement just before the checkered flag.
• In a contrasting result, the sister #7 Comtoyou Aston Martin of Mattia Drudi, Marco Sorensen, and Nicki Thiim won the race overall.

What's next:

Stroll will now return his focus to the Formula 1 season with Aston Martin Aramco. His teammate in the GT event, Mari Boya, continues in Aston Martin's young driver program. The event also featured Max Verstappen as a team principal for his own squad, which finished ninth, with the Dutch driver set to compete himself in Mercedes machinery at preparatory races for the Nürburgring 24 Hours later this month.