In 2014, the Canadian won the Italian F4 Championship. In 2017 he makes his debut in the top Formula
From winning the Italian F4 Championship to Formula 1 in little more than two calendar years and in just two additional seasons of car racing in total: this is the recent racing history of Canadian driver Lance Stroll, who in 2014 was crowned the champion of the then fledgling Italian Formula 4 Championship and who, on March 26, 2017, will make his Formula 1 debut at the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne at the wheel of a Williams. In between this, was also a Toyota Racing Series Championship (which he won in 2015) and a season in European Formula 3 (which he won in 2016).
A climb to the summit of world motor racing that has few precedents in the sport’s history and one that can trace its roots to the Italian F4 Championship and the 2014 season. From the onset, F4 fulfilled the desire of the FIA to be the category in which young drivers coming from karting would take their first steps in car racing.
Italy, therefore, at the behest of WSK Promotion and with the support of the Automobile Club of Italy (ACI), launched what would prove to be a visionary concept, a top formula both from a technical and sporting viewpoint. This was demonstrated by both the participation of so many international drivers (no less than 13 nationalities were represented in 2014, increasing to 24 in 2016) and also by the graduation to Formula 1 for the first series winner, Lance Stroll. Just a boy at the time when he competed in the F4 Championship at just 15 years of age, but able to win the title by 93 points with two rounds still remaining.
In the Italian F4 Championship at the wheel of the Tatuus car powered by Abarth, driving for Prema Powerteam, Stroll crossed the line to take the win no less than 10 times, also scoring 5 pole positions. The following year he progressed to the European FIA F3 Series, again with the Prema team, taking a race win and finishing inside the top six no less than 17 times, a sure sign that the Italian F4 Championship is an excellent school in a driver’s formative racing years. He rounded of the year by winning the Toyota Racing Series. 2016 was a victorious year for Stroll as took the F3 title with 11 race wins, driving again with the Prema team. The next big step for Stroll will be on March 26 th , 2017, when he makes his Formula 1 debut at the wheel of a Williams in the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.