F1 | Lance Stroll had a private test in Imola with a GP2 car
Lawrence Stroll organized a private test for his son, Lance Stroll, at the Imola circuit so the Canadian driver is prepared for the Emiglia Romana Grand Prix.
Lance Stroll and Racing Point have been the ones who have given the most results in this 2020 Formula 1 season. With a total of 57 points, the Canadian driver is currently in sixth position, only behind both Mercedes, both Red Bull and Lando Norris' McLaren. He has had some particularly good races but there are times when he cannot find the rhythm of the cars in front, including his teammate Sergio Perez. However, he has not received enough recognition in the races that he has been able to have a good amount of points, including a podium at the last Italian Grand Prix at Monza. Having said all that, on Wednesday September 16th, Lance had the opportunity to race for the first time in 6 years at the Imola circuit and here we will explain why.
The Italian circuit will return to the Formula 1 calendar after a long time and it has been confirmed that, with the aim that Lance is prepared and already knows the track, his father, Lawrence Stroll, has organized a private test for him with GP2 car. It should be noted that it was a fairly intelligent move since Formula 1 has prohibited any type of test with F1 cars on a new circuit, this move by the Stroll family made them not involved in any problem since they did not occupy their Racing Point or any F1 car. This had already been presented a few weeks ago as Mercedes wanted to do a test at the Portuguese circuit of Portimao, which was not allowed for the same reason. The GP2 that Lance occupied was a former Prema, from the Formula 2 team, which Lawrence owns.
Imola is not such a new circuit for the Canadian driver since he used to race there in 2014 when he was in Formula 4, it was the last time he raced in that circuit, 6 years have passed and this test was of great help as he was able to adapt to the kerbs, track conditions, identify curves, among others. This does not mean that he will have a great advantage over other drivers, as the GP2 is very different from a Formula 1 car. Lance was not the only one who admitted to running on a new circuit, Valtteri Bottas has “raced” in Imola with a Mercedes 45 AMG for the same purpose, another driver was Max Verstappen, who raced a Porsche on all the new circuits except Istanbul and the outer track of Bahrain. We will see if it will be an advantage for these drivers when we get to the highly anticipated Imola circuit.
