Canadian Lance Stroll deserves his place alongside Sebastian Vettel at Aston Martin next season irrespective of his father Lawrence owning the Formula One team, principal Otmar Szafnauer said on Friday.
Racing Point, who become Aston Martin F1 next year, announced on Thursday that four times world champion Vettel will join from Ferrari in 2021, taking the place of Mexican Sergio Perez alongside Stroll.
Szafnauer told reporters ahead of the Tuscan Grand Prix at Italy's Mugello circuit that dropping the Canadian was never an option.
"Lance has been with us for a couple of years, he's a young man at 21 years old and, yes, his father does own the team," he said.