Lance Stroll will spend Formula 1’s unusual April downtime doing what plenty of drivers quietly admit they miss once the grand prix treadmill starts: racing something else, somewhere else, with no points on the line.
Stroll is set to make his GT3 debut next weekend at Paul Ricard, lining up in the GT World Challenge Europe’s six-hour night race in an Aston Martin Vantage GT3. He’ll share the #18 Comtoyou Racing entry with former Marussia F1 driver Roberto Merhi and 21-year-old Mari Boya, in a 59-car field that’s become a magnet for big names as the GT3 scene continues to boom.
It’s a neat fit on several levels. Aston Martin’s F1 programme and its broader motorsport footprint have always been keen to present a joined-up story, and there aren’t many cleaner ways to do it than putting one of your current grand prix drivers into a flagship customer racing event in the same brand machinery. For Stroll, it’s also a chance to reframe a month that would otherwise be defined by waiting around.
The calendar context matters. Formula 1 is in the midst of a five-week gap following the cancellations of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix, and the paddock is reacting in the usual split way: some teams welcoming the breathing space, others grumbling about losing momentum. Drivers, meanwhile, are doing what drivers do — finding outlets.
Max Verstappen has already dipped a toe into GT3 racing via ownership of his own team, and his Verstappen Racing Mercedes is among the headline entries at Paul Ricard, even if Verstappen himself isn’t down to drive. That car is slated to be shared by Chris Lulham, Dani Juncadella and Jules Gounon, which ensures the event still has a direct line back to the F1 front page.
Stroll’s Aston Martin has been placed in the top Pro class, so this isn’t a soft launch in a quieter category. It’s the deep end: professional line-ups, serious pace, and the kind of operational sharpness you only really get when the stopwatch is biting. Paul Ricard, too, can flatter nobody in the dark. The six-hour contest runs almost entirely at night, starting at 6pm on Saturday 11 April and finishing at midnight — a very different rhythm to an F1 weekend, and one that puts a premium on stint management, reading track evolution and staying out of trouble when visibility narrows and patience wears thin.
Stroll has at least seen this world before, even if GT3 is new territory. Prior to his F1 career he twice competed in the Rolex 24 at Daytona, including a fifth overall finish in the Prototype class in 2016, and he returned in 2018 to finish 15th overall. Endurance racing asks different questions — not least how to be quick without burning the tyres and without turning every lap into a qualifying lap — and those questions tend to appeal to drivers who enjoy the craft side of the job.
It also helps that he’s not walking into a lonely programme. Aston Martin is turning up in force with seven Vantage GT3s on the entry list, and the wider Pro class has plenty of recognizable faces. Valentino Rossi continues his post-bike racing career in GTs, while Arthur Leclerc is also part of the Pro contingent as a Ferrari factory driver — another reminder that, in 2026, the borders between single-seaters and GT racing are increasingly porous.
The build-up begins early. Stroll and his team-mates will join the rest of the field for a Prologue test at Paul Ricard on Wednesday 8 April, ahead of the race weekend, with first practice set for the Friday afternoon. That matters because GT3 is less forgiving of “figure it out as you go” than some expect: traffic management is constant, braking references change depending on who you’re following, and the Vantage — like any GT3 — demands a different approach to weight transfer and traction than an F1 car.
Aston Martin’s head of endurance motorsport Adam Carter framed it as a showcase moment for the brand as much as a sporting entry.
“It is fantastic for Aston Martin to have the strongest Vantage line-up the brand has ever fielded in the GT World Challenge Europe that includes two Pro cars filled with Aston Martin works drivers,” Carter said. “The GT World Challenge Europe goes from strength to strength with every passing season and there is no better way, or place, to showcase Vantage’s exceptional abilities on the international motorsport stage.”
For Stroll, the timing is hard to ignore. A five-week break can feel like an eternity when you’re in-season, and the best drivers rarely enjoy being parked. A night race at Paul Ricard is the opposite of parked: it’s messy, physical, and relentlessly busy. If you want a way to keep the instincts sharp — and maybe rediscover some joy in the act of racing without the weight of an F1 weekend’s scrutiny — this is about as good as it gets.
