Lance Stroll takes FIA Formula 3 European title during penultimate race weekend at Imola
Stroll follows on from Mercedes-AMG DTM drivers Felix Rosenqvist (2015) and Mercedes junior Esteban Ocon (2014)Sixth consecutive title win for Mercedes-AMG in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship/Formula 3 Euro Series (2011-2016)
Ulrich Fritz: "Formula 3 is one of the best series for following the development of young talents, of which there have been a number of good examples in recent years."Imola: Championship celebration in Imola: At the penultimate race weekend of the FIA Formula 3 European Championship, 17-year-old Canadian Lance Stroll (Prema Powerteam) became the latest champion to emerge from the talent factory. During the season, Stroll has secured eleven wins, 17 podiums and twelve pole positions with the Mercedes-AMG Formula 3 engine. He can now no longer be caught by his fellow competitors, having accrued 432 points before the season finale which will be held under the banner of the DTM at Hockenheim (14th - 16th October 2016). For the sixth time in succession after Felix Rosenqvist (2015), Esteban Ocon (2014), Raffaele Marciello (2013), Daniel Juncadella (2012) and Roberto Merhi (2011), Prema Powerteam have nurtured the new champion. From 2003 to 2016, drivers running the Mercedes-AMG Formula 3 engine have secured twelve of fourteen possible championship titles in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship and in the previous series, the Formula 3 Euro Series. Like so many other racing drivers, Lance Stroll began his career in karting. He switched to formula racing in 2014 and immediately won the Italian Formula 4 Championship. He entered the FIA Formula 3 European Championship last year and finished his rookie season with a win and six podiums to place fifth overall. Just one year later, in only his third season in single-seater racing, he is now the FIA Formula 3 European Champion. He has also been a member of the Young Driver Development Programme this season with the Williams Formula 1 team. Many other young talents before Stroll started their careers running Mercedes-AMG Formula 3 engines. In their time in Formula 3, many drivers, including three-time Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton, the Mercedes juniors Pascal Wehrlein and Esteban Ocon and Mercedes-AMG DTM stars Paul Di Resta, Daniel Juncadella and Felix Rosenqvist utilised Mercedes power. Ulrich Fritz, Head of Mercedes-AMG DTM: "Congratulations to Lance Stroll, the new FIA Formula 3 European Champion. To win the championship with a weekend to go before the end of the season is a great performance by him and his team. Formula 3 is one of the best series for following the development of young talents, of which there have been a number of good examples in recent years. I'm thinking especially here of our two Mercedes juniors Pascal Wehrlein and Esteban Ocon in Formula 1 and Felix Rosenqvist, who recently made such a strong start in the DTM. I trust too that Lance will make his way in motor racing."
