Lawrence Stroll set a simple target for his son Lance ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix – join Fernando Alonso on the podium.
Aston Martin have made huge gains in the last year in terms of car performance. For the most part, they have had the second quickest car on the grid behind only the rampant Red Bulls.
Mercedes flexed their muscles last time out in Spain, thanks to some upgrades which appeared to work well. That saw the Silver Arrows leapfrog their customer team into second place in the championship.
But Toto Wolff has admitted that his team is unlikely to be quite as strong in Canada. The track is less suited to their car, opening the door for Aston Martin to retake that runner-up spot with a strong performance.
Alonso has been on the podium five times in seven races so far this season and will be hoping to improve that record further. In contrast, Stroll's last top-three finish came in 2020, when the team was still branded as Racing Point.
His billionaire father Lawrence, who owns the team, wants that to change. And he'd like to see it happen this weekend on home soil.
"Those are exactly the plans. Hopefully get two cars on the podium," the businessman told Reuters. "I'm extremely confident. I believe the car will be very strong around the Montreal circuit, it suits our car well... so I'm really looking forward to going home and really looking forward to a great race."
Stroll went on to add that Aston Martin are fully aware of why their cars were not as competitive in Barcelona as expected. And he also made sure to heap praise upon Alonso for his remarkable renaissance which has helped to catapult the team up the pecking order.
He added: "I believe we are bringing solutions to those and some upgrades into Canada. I think [Lance] demonstrated in Barcelona he's now starting, it took six or seven races, to feel better... I believe [the two drivers] will be equal by the end of the season.
"I think most people would never have believed Fernando would be around today. Probably a little long to see him around in '26, but never say never."
