Lance Stroll joins ex-F1 driver for surprise GT racing debut at Paul Ricard

Aston Martin Formula 1 driver Lance Stroll will make a surprise debut in the GT World Challenge season-opener at Paul Ricard next weekend.

Formula 1 is now on a forced one-month break, after the war in the Middle East forced the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix - scheduled for the weekends of 10-12 April and 19-21 April - were cancelled.

This has opened a gap in the racing calendar for F1 drivers to keep their skills sharp in different racing disciplines.

Lance Stroll is one such name to take up that opportunity, as he joins the Comtoyou Racing outfit in an Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 EVO for the 2026 GTWCE season-opener at Paul Ricard.

The Canadian joins the No.18 car and will share it with ex-F1 driver Roberto Merhi, who made 13 starts with Marussia in 2015, as well as Mari Boya.

The GTWCE season begins on the weekend of 11-12 April, when the Bahrain Grand Prix was due to run.

It will mark Stroll’s first GT racing outing of his career, though he has sportscar experience under his belt with two Daytona 24 Hours starts.

He was fifth in the 2016 edition in a Chip Ganassi Racing Ford along with Alex Wurz, Brendon Hartley and Andy Priaulx.

In 2018, he partnered with Felix Rosenqvist, Daniel Juncadella and Robin Frijns in the Jackie Chan DCR Jota, in which he finished 11th in class.

Juncadella recently partnered four-time F1 world champion Max Verstappen at NLS2 at the Nurburgring in a Mercedes, with the car winning on the road before being disqualified due to a tyre error.

Verstappen has already ruled out an outing at NLS3 on the weekend of 11-12 April, as his Team Verstappen Racing No.3 car is taking part in the Paul Ricard GTWCE round.

Stroll’s debut in the series will also see him race alongside MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi, who returns to GTWCE full-time in 2026.

The nine-time grand prix motorcycle world champion made his debut in GTWCE in 2022, after retiring from MotoGP.

He campaigned the series in 2022, 2023 and 2024, dovetailing that with his debut in the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2024.

Rossi focused fully on WEC for 2025, but has elected to return to GTWCE for 2026 with Team WRT as part of its factory BMW line-up.