AUSTIN, Oct 20 — Lance Stroll’s future with Aston Martin was the source of much speculation again on Thursday after organisers at the United States Grand Prix included Brazilian reserve driver Felipe Drugovich in a promotional poster.

Canadian Stroll, 24, son of team owner Lawrence Stroll, has been a regular part of the Silverstone-based team for three seasons, but his form has dipped this year while team-mate two-time champion Fernando Alonso has shone.

Stroll’s absence from the poster alongside Spaniard Alonso was widely reported to have been an accident that was rectified by the organisers after much discussion of his future on social media.

Stroll apologised to motor sport’s ruling body the International Motoring Federation (FIA) for his aggressive behaviour at this month’s Qatar Grand Prix where, for the fifth consecutive Grand Prix, he failed to progress from Q1 in qualifying.

Stroll threw his steering wheel out of his car in the Aston Martin garage area and then shoved his personal trainer out of his way before responding with monosyllabic answers and an expletive during broadcast media interviews.

Team-mate Alonso qualified fourth, endorsing an apparent gulf in potential and results between the two. Alonso is fourth in the drivers’ world championship while Stroll is 10th, adrift by 136 points.

With five rounds of the season remaining, starting this weekend in Texas, Aston Martin and McLaren are battling for fourth place in their title race and with it a significant sum of prize money in the constructors standings. — AFP