Stroll is now face of experience at Williams

London : Lance Stroll is still Formula One’s youngest driver but the 19-year-old Canadian will also be his Williams team’s most experienced man on the starting grid this season.

It is quite a departure for one of the sport’s leading constructors, once-dominant former champions whose cars have been graced by a roll call of greats but now without a race win since 2012.

With just 20 grands prix under his belt, Stroll now has 22-year-old Russian rookie Sergey Sirotkin as team mate in place of departed Brazilian veteran Felipe Massa.

There are those who see a slide down the standings as the campaign proceeds, with the Mercedes-powered car not looking particularly quick in testing either, but Stroll is understandably not one of them.

“Williams made a decision to take us on board and that’s how it is. I don’t think it’s a bad thing,” the driver, son of a billionaire, told Reuters during testing in Spain ahead of next week’s season-opener in Australia.

“I think, just like everyone else, if we do a good job as a team we can get some good results.”

The teenager did his best to win over the doubters in 2017 with a front row start, the only podium by a driver outside the top three teams and a place in the record books.

But he recognizes some may never be convinced that he is more than a rich kid whose father’s money has given him every
advantage.

“There will always be jealous people and haters, people who assume that if they were in your shoes they could do what you’re doing,” he said. “That’s just the world we live in.