Overview
- Lance Stroll, listed Thursday on the official entry, will drive Comtoyou Racing’s No. 18 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo at Paul Ricard with Roberto Merhi and Mari Boya.
- The outing fills a gap after the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix were canceled due to conflict, creating a five-week break between F1 races.
- The Paul Ricard opener on April 11–12 features a single six-hour Endurance Cup race on a 59-car grid that includes 18 Pro entries.
- This will be Stroll’s first race in GT3 machinery, though he previously started the Daytona 24 Hours twice in prototypes, including a fifth-place overall finish in 2016.
- The move reflects a wider crossover trend as stars such as Max Verstappen and Valentino Rossi enter GT events, boosting the profile of SRO-run GT3 racing.