Stroll a potential F1 champion - Alonso

Lance Stroll is a potential world champion, his two-time title winning new teammate says.

Fernando Alonso, the 41-year-old Spaniard who has moved from Alpine to Aston Martin over the winter, is paired this year with Stroll - the son of the team’s Canadian billionaire owner Lawrence.

Alonso says he has ’two or three’ more years of Formula 1 ahead of him, but is not ruling out retiring with a third world championship.

However, he also insists: "I will still be very proud if the team wins without me in the car.

"In Lance, the team has a driver who is super young, super talented and has the possibility to be world champion," Alonso said of the 24-year-old, who finished fifteenth overall in 2022.

"To see him achieve that and have played a part in that, whether that’s behind the wheel or not, will be special for me," he added, revealing that he has known billionaire Lawrence Stroll "for many years".

"He’s a great friend of mine. I’ve been to his house in Canada a few times, doing different sports and enjoying time together," said Alonso.