No driver on the 2026 grid has a more complicated relationship with his home crowd than Lance Stroll. That much was made plain by veteran Formula 1 photographer Kym Illman in his preview of this weekend's Canadian Grand Prix, in which he gave one of the more honest snapshots so far of how the Aston Martin driver is actually treated in Quebec.
Illman, who has been working the Montreal paddock since 2017, framed it bluntly. "He's not as popular, say, as Daniel or Oscar is in Australia or Lando and Lewis in Britain," he said in the preview. "He still has a following obviously, but he does cop a bit of flak from the locals about the gap between him and Fernando, his awkward media appearances, and the common paid driver boss's son narrative — which I think is a bit tough on the guy, and I hope he doesn't pay attention to that."
That narrative is the one fact about Stroll's career that has never quite died. His father Lawrence is Aston Martin's executive chairman and owns the Silverstone-based team. Lance has been in Formula 1 since 2017, has scored three career podiums, and has driven five different F1 cars under direct family ownership influence. To his supporters, those are legitimate results in a sport where almost every modern driver relies on backing, whether sponsorial, manufacturer-political or commercial. To his critics, the connection to ownership is the one detail no amount of qualifying laps can wash off.
The Quebec reception is shaped, too, by the contrast on the other side of the Aston Martin garage. Fernando Alonso is one of the most decorated drivers of his generation, and the comparison between his pace and Stroll's — particularly in qualifying — has been a recurring storyline since 2023. With Aston Martin's 2026 start being poor in objective terms, the qualifying gap has been less brutal in points, but no less visible to fans who care about lap time.
Illman's preview gave some softer texture too. Stroll, he said, is "quite open about the fact that he loves coming back here, obviously, for this race." The Aston Martin driver is quoted as saying he knows he is back home "when he's waking up to pancakes and maple syrup", and Illman identified Leicester's Delhi — a Montreal institution — as a Stroll favourite, though he added with a smile that he doubts the driver will be queuing there in the middle of grand prix weekend.
Stroll's best Canadian Grand Prix result remains a seventh place in 2024. Illman did not see any sporting case for a repeat in 2026.
"This year you certainly wouldn't be putting any money on him to equal or beat that, given the very poor start that Aston Martin's got off to this season."
The wider Canadian weekend, in Illman's reading, is unusually difficult to predict for several reasons unrelated to Stroll. The race is four weeks earlier than 2025, with overnight temperatures forecast as low as four degrees Celsius and maximums between 16 and 20. It is the third sprint weekend of the year — the third already in just five rounds — which gives teams only one practice session before qualifying on Friday. There is a 70% historical probability of a safety car, a 44% chance of a virtual safety car, and a 50% chance of rain on Sunday.
For Stroll, those numbers contain at least one piece of opportunity. Canadian Grands Prix where everything stays clean usually flatter the cars with most outright pace. Canadian Grands Prix with weather, safety cars and chaotic pit windows have historically thrown up odd results — Jenson Button from the back of the grid in 2011, Sergio Perez collecting a Sauber podium in 2012. Strolls' best chance to silence his harsher Quebec critics this weekend is exactly the kind of disruption Illman is predicting.
He has one other quiet local advantage. Illman noted that Friday's only practice session in Montreal traditionally sees drivers giving fans waves on out-laps. The biggest offender in the field, he said, is "Lance Stroll, who is in front of his home crowd." That gesture won't change the boss's-son narrative, and a single seventh place would not either. But for a driver who has spent a decade hearing the same chorus from the grandstands, a small wave on a cold Friday morning is at least a piece of theatre that belongs entirely to him.
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*Originally published on [News Formula One](https://newsformula.one/article/lance-stroll-montreal-home-race-pancakes-maple-syrup-paid-driver-narrative). Visit for full coverage.*
