Ferrari's 11-year-old wunderkind beats F1 driver in karting competition

Jun 23rd 2010 at 3:57PM
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Lance Stroll in the Ferrari karting challenge, Montreal – Click above or below for high-res image gallery

Montreal has some great karting tracks. The French-Canadian metropolis, after all, is a veritable motorsport mecca, playing host to Formula One (among other series) on a more regular basis than any other city in North America. So it should come as no surprise that, while Ferrari was in town for the Canadian Grand Prix last week, they took the whole team out to one such facility for some suitable R&R.

Among those participating were the team's star drivers Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso, along with Lance Stroll, the 11-year-old kid the team had signed to a driver development program the day before. So how did the young prodigy fare against the seasoned veterans? Well, after beating out the rest of the team personnel (including, we'd assume, at least one of the Scuderia's many test drivers), Stroll finished second in the ranks, beating out one of the grand prix drivers.

Ferrari, somewhat understandably, isn't saying which – Alonso or Massa – Stroll defeated in the friendly competition, but given that Massa is still an avid karter, we'd suspect it was Alonso. It's worth noting that with his more relevant experience and lower body weight, the young Stroll had a bit of an advantage. But any way you cut it, that's some fine work. Official announcement after the jump.



[Source: Ferrari]
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A karting challenge

Montreal, 10 June – Almost the entire Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro team, here in Canada for the eighth round of the Formula 1 World Championship, met up last night for a special go-kart race, with the personnel split into five times, one of them all women. This friendly tournament organised by the team at an indoor venue a few minutes from the centre of Montreal, brought together engineers, mechanics, catering crew and logistics, with every competitor getting two chances to race. At the end of an unforgettable evening, with a very unexpected grid, the twelve fastest took part in a race with a standing start. The Scuderia's race drivers tackled the race with great professionalism, in a group that also included the latest addition to the Ferrari Driver Academy ranks, Laurence Stroll. The eleven year old Canadian, who was yesterday announced as one of the young hopefuls of the Maranello school, lapped as quickly as the best, taking second place between Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa in the final classification.

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