Aston Martin team boss Mike Krack has ended speculation about the looming end of Lance Stroll's Formula 1 career.
Krack laughed at a wild recent rumours that because he has struggled alongside Fernando Alonso this year, 24-year-old Stroll - the son of team owner Lawrence Stroll - might launch a professional tennis career instead.
"Firstly, we will also have Lance and Fernando in 2024," Krack is quoted as saying at Monza by Speed Week.
"We see a Lance who is working very hard both at home in the simulator and also at the track with the engineers," he added.
"When we go into the details, he is often close to Alonso. But for various reasons, which were often out of his hands, the difference in points is greater than the difference in speed.
"We have to do a better job for him," Krack added.
He denied that Stroll has really been totally humbled by two-time champion Alonso, 42, this season, despite former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher insisting that Alonso's performance has been a "slap in the face" for the Canadian.
"There were some memorable moments," Schumacher told Sky Deutschland, "but compared to Alonso, the performance difference is huge.
"That shouldn't be the case when your teammate is 42 years old," he insisted. "There is no doubt that Lance has more talent than some of the drivers on the grid, but he is so weak compared to his teammate.
"I'm sure his father is quite realistic about these things."
Krack, though, said that analysis is wrong.
"If everything goes normally, Lance is within about three tenths of a second of Fernando, and I don't know how many drivers would be able to do that," he said.
"When we work with him, we don't recognise the rumours that Stroll is slowly becoming discouraged or that he's losing interest in Formula 1."
