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Stroll/Verstappen comparisons can end now - Williams
Lance Stroll's maiden podium finishing in his eighth Formula 1 start in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix can end comparisons with Max Verstappen, says Williams technical chief Paddy Lowe.
Lawrence Barretto
Edited: Jul 5, 2017, 11:58 AM
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Two weeks after achieving his first F1 points finish with ninth in Montreal, Stroll had his strongest weekend yet as he outqualified teammate Felipe Massa in Q3 and then kept his composure in a crazy Baku race to finish third.
Rival Verstappen made a strong start to his F1 career with Toro Rosso before earning promotion to Red Bull and securing his first F1 win in his first race with the senior team.
Stroll had a tougher start, failing to finish four of the first six races, but became the second driver in F1 history to take a podium while still a teenager.
The 18-year-old is 12 days older than Verstappen was when he broke that record by winning in Spain - but that podium came on his 24th start.
"I hope we can put all that behind us," said Lowe when asked if he could gain confidence from having achieved a podium earlier in his career than Verstappen.
"Lance doesn't need to look outside for any references, he only needs to look at himself and to be very happy with what he finds."
Lowe praised the job Stroll did all weekend and feels the confidence gained in Canada has helped the teenager's confidence.
"It's a real breakthrough," said Lowe. "He's arrived in Formula 1. The race was perfect, but it was not just the drive today - Lance has done a 10 out of 10 job all weekend.
"Every single session, he has been completely in control, driving with good pace, with good margin as well. I don't know if you remember back to Friday [practice], I think there were only three drivers that didn't throw a yellow and he was one of them.
"For a rookie, that's pretty impressive given he was also doing reasonable pace. I remember after Canada feeling this could be a real turning point.
"There were a number of people that even said to me this morning given his Canada performance and his qualifying yesterday, how happy they were to see him competing at that level."
Lowe was particularly impressed with the way Stroll drove in the closing stages of the race, initially hanging on to leader Daniel Ricciardo and then keeping his composure, although Bottas pipped him in a photo-finish for second.
"These are the moments when you have to dig deep and not make mistakes," he said. "He described those last 10 laps as all qualifying laps.
"He didn't slip up, every single laptime was on the nail and at a very respectable pace. I believe that is the pace of the car and that's the place you want to be with your drivers."
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