Lance Stroll enjoyed GT test

Lance Stroll spent part of Formula One’s April break in a different kind of Aston Martin, joining a GT test and race program at Paul Ricard in France. (astonmartin.com) Aston Martin announced on April 2 that Stroll would drive a Comtoyou Racing Vantage GT3 with Roberto Merhi and Mari Boya in the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup opener on Saturday, April 11. The same release said the trio would enter the Pro class and take part in the Prologue test on Wednesday, April 8, before the race weekend. (astonmartin.com) GT racing uses production-based sports cars rather than single-seat Formula One cars, and Paul Ricard’s season opener is a day-to-night endurance event with a 60-car field. Aston Martin said its seven-car Vantage entry made up more than 10 percent of the grid. (astonmartin.com) The car Stroll drove was Aston Martin’s Vantage GT3, a customer race car built around the road-going Vantage and powered by a twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V8 engine. Aston Martin introduced this version in February 2024 with revised aerodynamics, suspension and electronics for GT3 competition. (astonmartin.com) The outing came during the gap between Formula One rounds and put an active grand prix driver into Aston Martin’s broader endurance program. Motorsport.com reported Stroll said Aston Martin’s difficult start to the 2026 Formula One season was a factor in his decision to try the GT event. (motorsport.com) Stroll also arrived at the weekend carrying Formula One penalty points on his super licence, a separate system from GT racing. Formula1.com listed every driver’s totals before the 2026 Australian Grand Prix, while the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile’s 2026 guidelines say a driver is banned for one race at 12 points. (formula1.com) (fia.com) By Saturday night, the GT weekend had turned into a good result for Aston Martin as well as a change of scene for Stroll. The GT World Challenge Europe site said Comtoyou Racing gave Aston Martin victory in the Paul Ricard opener on April 11. (gt-world-challenge-europe.com) The thread of the story was less about lap charts than about Stroll’s mood: a Formula One regular smiling through a GT paddock, in a Vantage GT3 instead of an AMR26, before the grand prix calendar resumes. (astonmartin.com)