Lance Stroll to Debut in GT World Challenge at Paul Ricard

Lance Stroll will make his GT racing debut later this month at Circuit Paul Ricard, piloting an Aston Martin Vantage GT3 in the opening round of the 2026 GT World Challenge Europe. The appearance uses a gap in the Formula 1 calendar after the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix were removed from April’s schedule, leaving a five-week break between events; the Bahrain weekend had been scheduled for April 11-12.

Stroll will share the Comtoyou Racing-run Aston Martin with former Manor F1 driver Roberto Merhi and Aston Martin Academy prospect Mari Boya, who is currently competing in Formula 2. While this will be Stroll’s first GT race, he is not new to sports car competition — he has twice contested the 24 Hours of Daytona, with a best result of fifth in 2016.

The Paul Ricard outing comes amid a difficult start to the 2026 F1 season for both Stroll and Aston Martin: Stroll has failed to finish or be classified in all three Grands Prix so far this year (excluding the China Sprint). He joins a small group of current F1 drivers taking brief detours into GT racing — notably, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen recently confirmed plans to make his Nürburgring 24 Hours debut in May.

Stroll’s Paul Ricard drive will give him seat time in GT machinery and add variety to his season as Aston Martin seeks to steady its early campaign in Formula 1.