Johnny Herbert has called on Aston Martin team owner, Lawrence Stroll to consider dropping his son Lance.

Out-qualified by teammate Sebastian Vettel 14-8 in 2021 and scoring 34 points to the German's 43, things haven't been any easier this year, with the 23-year-old, out-qualified 6-1 and just 3 points to his credit compared to his teammate's 13.

"Lance has had a bit of a difficult time lately," racer turned TV pundit, Herbert tells the F1 Nation podcast. "I sometimes think there is a certain time that, if it doesn't happen for him, Lawrence has got to say to his son; 'I've given you a chance, it isn't quite working out, now I have to do the right thing for the team'.

"There will be a point that's going to happen," Herbert believes. "I don't exactly know when that will be, but it is down to Lance to do the job that he needs to do and consistently do that job. At the moment, it's a little bit scrappy."

Should Stroll Snr take his advice, Herbert believes the ideal replacement would be Pierre Gasly, who last week confirmed that he will remain with AlphaTauri for 2023.

"He has to do what Daniel did, break away," says Herbert of the Frenchman's ties with Red Bull, a move back to the 'big team' now clearly out of the question.

"I think he should be straight there already making inquiries for exactly what they want to do and say, 'Yeah, I'm ready and willing to come onboard'."

For his part, Stroll claims to have no confidence in the AMR2.

"We're always learning, but I think on my side, I want to get into a better, more comfortable place with the car," he said recently. "I still feel like I'm not really that confident in the car and not feeling very precise and predictable in the car.

"I've got to keep working to get back to the place I was in last year and the year before, where it was more predictable and more comfortable," he admits. "Now it's just a little bit difficult for me, I've got to keep working with my engineers to try and sort that out."

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Ricardo_sanchez, 28/06/2022 18:17

"According to some people that post here quite regularly, Stroll Jnr could have won multiple world titles if he’d only been sitting in a Mercedes for a few seasons. It’s all very confusing… "

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2. Posted by kenji, 28/06/2022 1:14

"The quetion to pose is simply this...would this team,in whatever guise, be on the grid without the Stroll finances/partnership and the link with Aston Martin?. People do pile in when performnance related/driver issues rise. To take on board anything that Herbert says is usually laughable! The real benefit is having an F1 team, good or bad, racing and still providing at least one seat to a former multiple WC driver. I have no love for the team per se but if having the Strolls as major owner/investors means one driver is there, mostly, as a family representative then that's fine. It's not as though Stroll snr, owes anybody else a drive...it's his, and other shareholders money, they can do as they please. Fathers do these things...as I would expect that somewhere along the line Norris's father [ 500th on the British wealth list ] helped things along as have and will continue to do so,other parents. Lance himself is, as others have stated, a mid field driver, but so are quite a few others. He does appear to have a special talent when it coes to wet weather racing. He's really good and deserves credit. The F1 business needs to have teams like this as they form part of the basic structure. I don't see Lawrence sacking his son and why should he? He owes nobody anything...."

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3. Posted by ChickenFarmerF1, 27/06/2022 22:51

"As an amendment to my previous post, I think what's probably going to happen is Stroll Sr will sell the team when he's tired of paying for Stroll Jr's delusion of grandeur. Said sale will be the first us fans will hear of anything. The new owners will then probably try to find some means to break the brand new multi-year contract AM signed a couple months previously with Stroll Jr (parting gift from daddy of course), and replace him with whoever they like that's available. At which point Stroll Jr will likely look for a seat in WEC, Indy, Formula E, or whatever because no F1 team other than a backmarker would find him enough of an upgrade from their current line up to bother with, and he won't have daddy's backing for a pay drive. But, he could probably get enough sponsorship to race in another series. Heck even Grosjean managed that."

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4. Posted by ChickenFarmerF1, 27/06/2022 16:13

"@Johnny Herbert - AH-HAHAHAHAHA!! Good one! Seriously, Lawrence Stroll in only the owner of the Aston Martin team to guarantee his son a spot on the grid. I don't think anyone believes he would be involved in F1 in any capacity were it not for that. So long as Lance is meeting even minimal performance targets he'll keep that seat. Once Lance is gone from F1 I'd expect to see Lawrence selling his stake in AM within 6 months.

@Wokingchap - yeah, Lance has turned out OK, a more or less decent mid-fielder if he has a car capable of such. But considering the 10's (100's??) of millions daddy spent to get him there one would have expected a LOT more.

@BrightonCorgi - Lance would never move to another team. Few if any would take him in the first place, and without daddy's backing he'd be sacked after 1 season at most, as much because of his history as his current driving. With the right support he's a decent mid-fielder, but the grid is awash with decent mid-fielders, and lots of youngsters looking to break in."

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5. Posted by Burton, 27/06/2022 16:08

"Johnny is right, but I see the opposite happening first, letting Seb go and hiring a scrub to make Lance look better...or getting rid of the team."

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6. Posted by BrightonCorgi, 27/06/2022 13:34

"Aston Martin needs a better car along with it. Vettel is just slightly outperforming Stroll when the car is actually performing. Aston Martin got this year's car wrong.

Lance should try to move onto another team without his dad's influence and see where he really stacks up. He's a solid average driver and deserves a spot, but will he ever win a race? Not with his current team unfortunately. "

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7. Posted by Wokingchap, 27/06/2022 13:04

"I agree with Mr.Herbert's comments although for a pay driver I thought he turned out to be surprisingly ok, but I must agree."

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Herbert urges Lawrence Stroll to drop his son

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