Give Stroll “half a year” before judging

Making your debut in Formula One is never going to be an easy task, but it could be argued Lance Stroll is set to have a more difficult rookie year than most. Not only does the teenager have to deal with a car that more experienced drivers have called more difficult to drive, but he’ll also be pushing to prove those who say he’s just a pay driver wrong.

Stroll’s preseason testing didn’t really look promising. Whilst recently un-retired Felipe Massa’s best lap was the fifth fastest, Stroll could only manage 13th with a time nearly a second slower than his team-mate’s. The Canadian also received criticism for a number of crashes at Barcelona, one of which forced Williams to miss an entire day of testing.

But drivers have come to Stroll’s defence, and Williams’ engineering chief Rob Smedley has said we can only judge the rookie after his first half a year in F1.

“If Lance had driven in the same conditions as Felipe, he would have done a 1m19.6s,” he told Auto Motor und Sport. “That would be more than respectable.

“What he needs now is confidence. Melbourne will be tough enough for him: new track, limited practice, and the walls are closer than in Barcelona.

“The pressure on Lance is extremely high. He is only 18, everything is new, the cars are so fast and everyone is looking at him.

“He goes to Melbourne with only 180 minutes of preparation before qualifying. Give him half a year to familiarise. Only then can we form a judgement about him.”

Team-mate Felipe Massa has also come to Stroll’s defence.

“Surely, it would be easier to debut last year, where there was less down force to manage and less physical stress for the driver,” he told journalists at testing. “These two aspects today are tougher.

“This one is not an easy can and I understand that, for a young driver is not an easy situation. I remember when I was 18 years old, and I remember very well how many mistakes I made.

“It’s always possible to do a mistake. I also came off the track, and I prayed that I had not broken anything.”

It’s not just the new, tougher cars that will put Stroll under more pressure than a rookie usually would be under. His financial backing drew criticism before he even ventured out on track, and the teenager will be keen to prove he deserves his seat. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen has also made things difficult, setting the bar high for European Formula 3 graduates.