Skip to main content
motorsports

On tap this week:

  • Stroll following in Maldonado's footsteps?
  • Toyota not coming back
  • More back-to-back F1 races in 2016
  • DTM gets slow zones
  • Quote of the Week: Bourdais sees things clearly
  • Corvettes rule CTMP

With his father's huge wallet bankrolling his career, Montreal's Lance Stroll looks destined to be Canada's next Formula One driver.

Although the 16-year-old is part of the Ferrari driver academy program, rumours continue to circulate that his billionaire father Lawrence wants to buy into an F1 team, undoubtedly to give his son the inside track to a seat. Last year, the elder Stroll was thought to be looking into the Sauber team, but lately the Williams team is apparently in his sights.

Ironically, the younger Stroll's performances in European Formula 3 this year have him gaining a reputation for causing accidents similar to another well-heeled but crash prone Williams seat-buyer, Pastor Maldonado, who is backed by Petróleos de Venezuela, his country's state-owned oil company.

In three of the past four F3 race weekends, Stroll has been involved in dangerous incidents precipitated by his apparent lack of awareness of what is going on around him.

Stroll was banned for one race last month at the Spa-Francorchamps Circuit in Belgium after causing a three-car accident when he drove into two other drivers who were attempting to pass him at the end of a fast straight. One of the victims, Mikkel Jensen, was hugely critical of the Montreal native.

"I don't understand what he's thinking," Jensen said after the accident saw all three cars retire. "He's caused a lot of accidents already this year."

Although Stroll was banned for the third race of the Spa weekend, many in the F3 paddock felt Stroll should serve at least a one-race weekend penalty (three races).

The Belgian accident came on he heels of another poor driving incident at the famed Monza Circuit, where the Canadian left another driver no room and caused a spectacular accident that saw his car barrel roll into the catch fence.

Stroll was at it again on Saturday in Zandvoort, Netherlands, where he moved over on another driver off the start and caused contact before the first corner. He retired from the race with suspension damage while his victim retired after five laps.

Random thoughts

Formula One commercial boss Bernie Ecclestone continues to campaign for the sport to chuck its engine rules and start over. The diminutive F1 ringmaster wants a return to the old screaming 1,000-horsepower V-8s that were replaced by today's 1.6-litre turbos. Ecclestone's latest ploy is to insist that the engine regulations are keeping new manufactures, such as Toyota, from joining the sport. Then again, it could also be argued that Toyota simply doesn't want to get back in F1 because the last time it was there, the manufacturer spent somewhere around $2 billion (U.S.) to take home no wins, three poles and 13 podiums in eight seasons.

By the numbers

The World Motor Sport Council approved the 2016 Formula One calendar last week which features a record 21 races. The Apr. 3 Australian Grand Prix opener happens three weeks later than this season and marks the latest start to an F1 season in the past 30 years except for 1987. The season ends on the last weekend of November in Abu Dhabi. With more races packed into a shorter time period, the 2016 schedule features seven back-to-back race weekends, the most since 2012. The Canadian Grand Prix at Montreal's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve slots into the same early June spot it has held since 1982. It will run June 12.

Technically speaking

The Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters has become the latest series to adopt a version of the virtual safety car now used in Formula One. It increases safety but does not rob drivers of gaps they've built between rivals behind. The German touring car series divides its track into several sections and when a local yellow comes out, a"slow zone warning" is displayed in that segment and drivers can't pass or exceed 80 km/h. With many series moving to this model, perhaps it's time for IndyCar to re-think its frequent full course cautions on road courses.

Quote of the week

"I think that's pretty clear."

— KV Racing's Sébastien Bourdais responding when asked if he had a first-place car in Sunday's Wisconsin 250 following a dominant performance at the Milwaukee Mile where a late caution period ruined his bid to lap the field.

The last word

Corvettes stood tall in the United SportsCar Championship's Canadian stop sweeping four of the top five spots in Sunday's Mobil 1 SportsCar Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Brothers Jordan and Ricky Taylor took the win. Meanwhile, Corvette GT drivers Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garcia jumped back into the GT Le Mans points lead by scoring a third place despite driving a borrowed car. The No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R needed to be borrowed from European race team Larbre Competition after Magnussen crashed during practice for the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the car could not be repaired in time for the Bowmanville weekend. CORE Autosport drivers Colin Braun and Jon Bennett lapped the Prototype Challenge field on their way to their first class win of the season in their the No. 54 Composite Resources/Flex Box ORECA FLM09.

Like us on Facebook

Follow us on Instagram

Add us to your circles

Sign up for our weekly newsletter

Follow related authors and topics

Authors and topics you follow will be added to your personal news feed in Following.

Interact with The Globe