The statistics clearly favour Fernando Alonso, but Pedro de la Rosa uses the data to explain why he believes Lance Stroll is still hugely underrated
Aston Martin ambassador Pedro de la Rosa is full of praise for Lance Stroll and claims the Canadian could be “just as fast” as his team-mate Fernando Alonso, the two-time Formula 1 world champion from 2005 and 2006.
Alonso and Stroll have been driving together for Aston Martin since 2023. During this period, Stroll – now 27 – has lost the qualifying head-to-head by 15:89 and, with 131:335, has also scored significantly fewer World Championship points than his team-mate.
And although Alonso is now older and Stroll has gained further experience, little has changed in the balance of power between the two. Even in 2026, the Spaniard – now 45 – is on average three tenths of a second faster in qualifying.
On the Beyond The Grid podcast, however, de la Rosa has nothing but praise for Stroll: “Lance is super-fast,” says the former Formula 1 driver. “I love looking at the data because I’m very data-driven. And I like to see where one driver is faster than the other. And Lance is unbeatable on many circuits, in many corners.”
“It’s not as though you could say: ‘Lance is strong in fast corners and Fernando in …’ The two are very closely matched. Lance is extremely fast in all kinds of corners. It’s just that he sometimes makes mistakes in qualifying or little things get in the way. And if you don’t qualify right at the front, that ultimately affects the whole weekend. That’s exactly where he’s lacking something.”
“Sometimes he just can’t quite pull it all together in qualifying. But sometimes he does manage it in qualifying, and then he beats Fernando. And that’s… I mean, we’re talking about Fernando Alonso here. And his pace in the race is impressive too. He’s very good at managing his tyres.”
However, there is a ‘but’ – and not an insignificant one at that. De la Rosa makes it clear that Stroll needs a car that performs as intended in order to keep up with his team-mate: “I think Lance is a very underrated driver,” de la Rosa continues.
“If we improve the car and make it a bit more driver-friendly… I have to say that at the moment it’s a very difficult car for many reasons. It’s not just about the car and the chassis, but also the engine. We need to improve the drivability – then, as soon as the car is working properly, he’ll be just as fast as Fernando. There’s absolutely no doubt about that.”
Lance Stroll has been racing in Formula 1 since 2017. So far, he has secured one pole position and three podium finishes. He also recently set a new record that he would probably rather not have achieved – namely, becoming the first driver in Grand Prix history to be eliminated in Q1 on 100 occasions.
He is currently under contract with Aston Martin, a team controlled by his father, Lawrence.