Breaking news
Formula 1
Stroll criticism "grossly unfair", says Williams
Claire Williams believes Lance Stroll has been unfairly criticised and should be given a break following a difficult start to his rookie Formula 1 season.
Lawrence Barretto
Edited: Jun 4, 2017, 11:53 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Stroll has failed to score a point in the first six races of the 2017, retiring from four of those events, while teammate Felipe Massa has scored 20.
The 18-year-old Canadian collided with Sergio Perez on the first lap in China, clashed with Carlos Sainz in Bahrain, had a first-lap spin in Russia and retired with brake problems in Monaco.
In Spain, he crossed the line 11.5 seconds behind Massa, despite having been more than 50s ahead of him on lap two after the Brazilian's opening lap clash with Fernando Alonso.
Stroll has described the criticism as "funny" and insists he is ignoring it and focusing on the job.
"I do think people should give him a break," deputy team principal Williams told Motorsport.com. "Some of the stuff I have seen has been pretty unpleasant and I don't think it is fair or warranted.
"He's a young kid, people forget that. They forget how difficult the transition is between F3 and F1 and no one is going to come into this sport and straight away blow everyone away - that's just unrealistic.
"We always said from the outset that he needed some time to familiarise himself. All the circuits so far this year, he hasn't driven on and he has equipped himself well.
"When he hasn't finished invariably, it hasn't been his fault. So I think the criticism that has been levelled at him is grossly unfair."
Form in first six races of F1 career
YearDriverTeam1 2 3 4 5 6 2001 
Fernando Alonso Minardi 12th 13th DNF DNF 13th DNF 2001 
Kimi Raikkonen Sauber 6th DNF DNF DNF 8th 4th 2002 
Felipe Massa Sauber DNF 6th DNF 8th 5th DNF 2007 
Lewis Hamilton McLaren 3rd 2nd 2nd 2nd 2nd 1st 2007 
Sebastian Vettel BMW/STR 8th 16th 19th 18th DNF DNF 2009 
Romain Grosjean Renault 15th DNF 15th DNF 16th 13th 2010 Nico Hulkenberg Williams 14th DNF 10th 15th 16th DNF 2011 
Sergio Perez Sauber DSQ DNF 17th 14th 9th 11th 2011 
Daniel Ricciardo HRT 19th 19th 18th DNF NC 19th 2013 Valtteri Bottas Williams 14th 11th 13th 14th 16th 12th 2015 
Max Verstappen Toro Rosso DNF 7th DNF DNF 11th DNF 2017 
Lance Stroll Williams DNF DNF DNF 11th 16th DNF
Williams backs Stroll to come good and pointed out that statistically, his start to the season is similar to many drivers on the grid today who have gone on to take wins or podiums.
"If you look at some of the drivers that we have in our sport that are up there winning races and their statistics from the first six races, they are pretty similar," said Williams.
"People need to look at precedent before they start criticising. Unfortunately, he's had four out of six DNFs. It would be nice if people remembered that and cut him a bit of slack.
"I know he'll be looking forward to going to Canada, but there will be a huge amount of pressure on his shoulders, and it's a difficult track. He deserves a good finish."
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article McLaren has had 95 percent success rate with upgrades
Next article Red Bull braced for "toughest" phase of F1 season
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Lawrence Barretto
Sirotkin, Stroll to have two race engineers each
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sirotkin, Stroll to have two race engineers each
Hamilton "sacrifice" saved Mercedes an hour of testing
Formula 1
Formula 1
Hamilton "sacrifice" saved Mercedes an hour of testing
Kubica regrets being "too honest" about driving limitations
Formula 1
Formula 1
Kubica regrets being "too honest" about driving limitations
More from
Lance Stroll
"Unacceptable downshifts" – Max Verstappen explains what's behind a recurring F1 radio complaint
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
"Unacceptable downshifts" – Max Verstappen explains what's behind a recurring F1 radio complaint
Aston Martin knew before Mexico GP it would not finish, Honda brings new countermeasures
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
Aston Martin knew before Mexico GP it would not finish, Honda brings new countermeasures
More from
Williams
Franco Colapinto, George Russell to sit out FP1 at F1 Mexico GP
Formula 1
Formula 1
United States GP
Franco Colapinto, George Russell to sit out FP1 at F1 Mexico GP
Fernando Alonso blasts driving standards of bottom half of F1 grid
Formula 1
Formula 1
United States GP
Fernando Alonso blasts driving standards of bottom half of F1 grid
Latest news
Kyle Larson, Cliff Daniels and the Hendrick 5 are who we say they are
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
53 min
Kyle Larson, Cliff Daniels and the Hendrick 5 are who we say they are
Final NASCAR Cup points standings after 2026 Homestead finale
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
4 h
Final NASCAR Cup points standings after 2026 Homestead finale
Official race results: NASCAR Cup Homestead season finale
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
5 h
Official race results: NASCAR Cup Homestead season finale
Ryan Blaney wins Homestead NASCAR Cup finale as Kyle Larson claims 2026 title
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
5 h
Ryan Blaney wins Homestead NASCAR Cup finale as Kyle Larson claims 2026 title
Feature
Discover prime content
How F1’s rules got to be so complex
Formula 1
By Pat Symonds
How F1’s rules got to be so complex
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe