10 years ago today: Lance Stroll won his final race before F1

Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll's most recent race victory came exactly ten years ago today. The Canadian left his mark on the junior categories by winning the final race he contested before stepping up to Formula 1. He has not added another win to his record since.

A win on the heels of a title

Stroll was just two weeks shy of his 18th birthday at the time. His move up to Formula 1 with Williams the following year had already been announced. Having wrapped up the European Formula 3 Championship early in the season, the young driver had also won the first two races of the three-race season finale at the Hockenheimring. In his final race with the Prema team, he started fourth on the grid, behind Joel Eriksson, Jake Hughes and Callum Ilott.

Stroll won that race as well, closing out the Hockenheim weekend with three victories and bidding farewell to Prema.

A grid full of future stars

One notable aspect of that day's race was the number of future Formula 1 drivers on the starting grid. Nikita Mazepin started 10th, Zhou Guanyu 13th and George Russell, now one of Mercedes' key drivers, 15th.

Seventh on the grid was Anthoine Hubert. The French driver lost his life in a Formula 2 crash in 2019, plunging the motorsport world into deep mourning.

A long wait for Stroll

That successful Formula 3 season paved the way for Stroll's move to the top tier at a very young age. For the Canadian, however, that win at Hockenheim remains the last race he has won to date. Stroll, who stood out in the junior categories with a championship and a string of victories, has yet to win in the nearly ten years he has spent in Formula 1.