Jacques Villeneuve believes that fellow Canadian Lance Stroll has been the better performing driver for Aston Martin this season compared to Fernando Alonso.

While the Spaniard has scored more points than Stroll in the first 14 races of the 2024 season and is 9 to 6 ahead of his teammate in the qualifying statistics, Villeneuve suggests that Stroll has performed better than Alonso since last April, when Alonso extended his contract with the Silverstone team.

At the end of last year, after a season in which Stroll was clearly dominated by Alonso, many believed it was time for Aston Martin team owner Lawrence Stroll to replace his son.

However, Villeneuve insists that Stroll Sr. has the right to keep his son in second place on his team. The 1997 F1 World Champion explained why.

“Lance Stroll is one of the drivers who most deserves to continue racing in F1 because his father bought the team,” Villeneuve told InstantCasino.com.

“Of course he deserves to be there. The Aston Martin team could have gone bankrupt without Lawrence Stroll. So he deserves to employ his son and keep him in Formula 1, it’s as simple as that.”

While Villeneuve acknowledges Stroll’s privileged position, he claims the Canadian’s performance is on Alonso’s level.

He points to the 43-year-old F1 veteran’s recent difficulties following Aston’s unsuccessful updates and mentions that Stroll was ahead of the Spaniard in three of the last four races before the summer break.

“Lance is not last and lagging behind the pace, he can keep up with Fernando Alonso,” he continued.

“Alonso had problems with the team from the beginning and since then Lance seemed to be the better driver.”

Stroll’s solid performances predictably earned the 25-year-old a contract extension with his father’s team, but Villeneuve warns his compatriot that he still has to prove his worth.

“Lance knows he is in F1 because his father bought the team. Now he has to show that he is fast,” said Villeneuve.

“He must realise that there were other millionaire drivers who enjoyed the same privileges as Ayrton Senna, Niki Lauda and Lando Norris.

“Lance is lucky, but there’s nothing wrong with that and he needs to show he can race fast.”

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