Stroll Delighted with Debut Podium, Finally Proves Worth in Formula One?

[Paul Jeffrey]

Lance Stroll impressed the Formula One fraternity once again in Baku this weekend, securing his second points finish in a row and bagging his first career podium to boot.

Stroll capped a fantastic weekend with his first ever rostrum finish in Formula One to become just the second teenager behind Max Verstappen to stand upon the podium at a Formula One Grand Prix race weekend.

"I can't quite realise what just happened," Stroll said. "I'm sort of lost for words. I couldn’t believe coming into the weekend that I would be standing on the podium!​

As a mark of how far the driver has come in just two short weeks since the beginning of the Canadian Grand Prix, Stroll was even slightly disappointed with his third place finish as the Williams driver thought a potential second place was on the table come the end of the race in Baku.

"It was a bit disappointing to lose P2 at the end to Valtteri, but all in all an amazing race - just amazing. I'm over the moon.

"The team kept me cool and I kept my cool, but I knew how close [Bottas] was and with two laps to go I saw him in my mirrors. I knew it was going to be tricky, but I thought I had him going into the final straight... but he was just a bit too quick with the DRS. I think that's probably one of the closest finishes of all time!​

Following an equally cool and polished performance last time out in Canada where the young Canadian kept his head for ninth when those around them lost theirs, Stroll appears to be growing up fast in Formula One terms as he looks to finally put the 'pay driver' tag and multimillionaire father behind him and perform out on the circuit for his team.

Consecutive points finishes and a debut podium, has the youngster finally begun to show the world of Formula One that he's more that just a substantial pay day for his Williams team?


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Do you think Stroll has proven his worth in Formula One recently? Can the youngster build on recent results and establish himself in the sport for the long term? Let us know in the comments section below!

 

[Craig Patteson]

as a Williams fan I was delighted with his performance I would of been happy if he had finished in the points but a podium fantastic he mite of been lucky with other drives falling off the road and penalty's to others but still to come home 3rd was great he still had to bring the car home with other 20 laps with 3 fast cars chasing him down. he didn't put a foot wrong in the whole race no mistakes nothing. still has a lot to learn but I'm hopeful

 

[Timmy UK]

Good for him, and the team.

 

[Kurupt CDN]

Great to see a fellow Canadian on the podium!

 

[Jayblue]

I had some strong reservations over the first few races about his performances. Massa was pretty much walking all over him in the races and we all know that good as Felipe is he is not the fastest driver on the grid.

In Canada it was good to see Stroll get in the points but he was still a little too cautious at times in the race backing out of passes that he could have made. In Baku however he really did do well. Keeping Ricciardo in sight over the closing laps while shouldering the pressure from the chasing pack was impressive. He looked solid all weekend and got his reward with third position. Hopefully with the confidence he will now have going forward he can push Williams back up in the constructors championship.

 

[samcar304]

I would not say he has proved his worth due to the circumstances that played out during the race... But Stroll has definitely showed he is capable of consistent lapping under pressure from a very fast driver on a difficult circuit.

Is this the silver bullet that revives his reputation? No, but he is one step closer to being accepted by many F1 fans who have doubted him and played him off as useless. Looking forward to the rest of year and how he can build on this confidence for more strong points finishes.

 

[Boby Kim]

Matchfixing

 

[Rob]

The kid doesn't even know how to break a draft.

 

[bmanic]

He got lucky. Only time will tell if he is truly talented. This one race is definitely not enough, in my opinion.

 

[The-IC]

Yeah, he needs consistently good results before being considered a good driver...Maldonados solitary win in 2012 didnt suddenly prove his worth being in F1...

 

[oorjit07]

He is a very talented driver (as proven by the fact that was part of the Ferrari Junior Academy) but he made the mistake of trying to emulate Verstappen when he clearly has a different way of progressing. He also had to deal with the extreme physical and mental strength it takes to drive these cars this year, but it looks like he has overcome this with some confidence and by gaining experience.

 

[Knoxstar]

For team principle Claire Williams, points mean $$ at the end of the year so 17 points in 2 races is many $$$$ and puts him only 3 behind his teammate. Also, I don't recall him spinning all weekend and rightfully so, this is more down to easing up to the best lap than pushing over the limit. He kept his head and while others crashed he stayed out of trouble and was quick as his qualy performance proved.
I have no doubt that he is quick and will improve. Maldanado was a senior citizen compared to Lance when he came into F1.
So has he proved his worth.....well he is getting there and steady progress will solidify him and who knows honestly what his true potential is.

 

[wombat999]

I was unimpressed by his entry into F1 but it appears he did a great job of keeping out of trouble and showed his growing maturity.
Of course he was 'lucky', but one makes one's own 'luck'.
If he can keep working at it I'd expect to see the kid moving up the grid.
However, "One Swallow does not a Summer make" as the Bard said.

 

[Matthew Allington]

For most of the season so far Stroll has been completely demolished by Massa. But in Baku, Lance was pretty close to Felipe in the race after outqualifying him. Kid's improved!

As mentioned before, he never dropped too far behind Danny Ric on not the easiest of circuits despite the pressure of a fast-approaching Mercedes behind. Not bad.

About the last lap - I really don't think that it made much of a difference that Lance didn't try to break the tow - at that point of the track, more than anywhere else on the F1 calender, if the car behind has DRS then the car ahead is completely f****d.

 

[Cote Dazur]

Pleasantly surprised to see him on the podium, he went from what the **** is he doing in an F1 to that is interesting let see what happens next.

 

[Coops]

The kid is extremely talented, if you want proof go check out his wiki page and look at how he dominated 3 well regarded junior formulas, which is 3 more championships than Max had before his F1 entry (not a dig at Max, just proof that Lance is fast)
I thought the slanted media stories and vicious attacks on the internet and social media were wildly unfair. I've actually been really impressed with how he's handled it all and kept a positive attitude. I think this weekend was a great reward for that and really showed what he's capable of. In a very clumsy weekend for everyone Stroll looked most comfortable. In practice there were over 100 yellow flags for drivers taking escape roads, spinning and hitting walls. Lance went off once with 30 seconds to go in FP3, that was his only mistake all weekend. not only that he was quicker than Massa in Quali. He stayed out of trouble in the race and I thought he'd done enough to keep Bottas out of DRS until the final straight, but with that works Mercedes engine he had an extra 33 kmph at the line which is nuts! either way he earned that podium with a smart well driven race.
That said I also don't think that just because he got a podium it's the end of the struggle. He's 18, driving the toughest F1 cars in a decade, he's going to have some ups and downs - just like Ocon. Hopefully this will buy him some time to continue his development and we'll see what he's capable of.

 

[Knoxstar]

Just one other thing. Face it, we all have a general distaste for billionaires, whether they earned it honestly or not. So it comes as no surprise that this feeling transfers from father to son. Rich kid with a platinum spoon. However, rich kid Lance, doesn't need to work a day in his life so not only is he working his butt off but in a very dangerous sport. Has he had the best equipment? For the most part but not always and yet he has made his way, SUPERLICENCE in hand to F1. Is he the first rich kid to race in F1? Or the first to have rich personal sponsors? Not even close on either account. Finally, this is a tough season, car aside, for getting the balance right on tire temps. Just ask multiple F! champions Hamilton and Vettel. I thought it was really nice to see Hamilton and Alonzo come over to shake his hand. I think that says a lot, media and non-billionaire fans aside.

 

[Christian Moreau]

I was pretty disheartened and almost embarrassed by his performances earlier in the season, but with his confidence boosting performance in Montreal, plus his podium at Baku, I think some of his talent is finally starting to come out. We'll see how he does over the next few races, but it's really nice to have one of our own proudly wearing the maple leaf again. These cars aren't easy to drive, and I think he's adapting quite nicely now.

His moment with the fans in Montreal was pretty awesome too.

 

[Ole Marius Myrvold]

The kid is extremely talented, if you want proof go check out his wiki page and look at how he dominated 3 well regarded junior formulas

The level in the Italian F4 and TRS was not extremely high though. Also, remember that his dad bought Prema, who already were the dominating F3 team, pushed in more money in to the team, got the veteran Rosenqvist to do yet another year, to help Lance in his first year, then kept on spending money on the team. Even having Williams engineers working on Lances F3 car. And there were some talk about the others in the team having to move over if that was a possibility.

So far he reminds me of Piquet jr. Comes through the junior stuff driving for a team that dad owns. Looks out of depth in F1, get a random podium in a race with much strange stuff and SC.

With the amount of testing Stroll have done, he should've had this confidence in Melbourne. Before pre-season testing in 2017 he had already done more miles in private testing with his(!) older Williams F1 car than the normal rookies get over 1-2 seasons of racing plus testing, with his own private test team of 20 men, 5 merc-guys, two specially built engines, Pirelli-tyres (again, made uniquely just for private testing).
Not the mention the state of the art simulator that only Lance was allowed to use last year.

And if it was Martini or Daddy Stroll that caused Massa to un-retire, I don't know. Both have been used as reasons. Martini due to not wanting two drivers under 25. Stroll due to wanting an experienced driver to be the mentor for Lance.

Regardless, there have not been another driver the last 20 years that have had this amount of preparation, testing and private work. He should be delivering results. Anything less is actually poor driving.

 

[Rob]

he didn't put a foot wrong in the whole race no mistakes nothing.

Did he even pass anyone?

Great to see a fellow Canadian on the podium!

He's no Canadian. He's a citizen of "the world" as all kids of billionaires are.

Hopefully with the confidence he will now have going forward he can push Williams back up in the constructors championship.

wow. No comment.

However, "One Swallow does not a Summer make"

B.S. One swallow made my summer in 1984.

The kid is extremely talented, if you want proof go check out his wiki page and look at how he dominated 3 well regarded junior formulas, which is 3 more championships than Max had before his F1 entry

The kid needs to go home and play with his Daddy's money. Daddy put him straight into Ferrari's hands (for which Ferrari got handsomely paid) and then proceeded to scorch the earth with mind bending performances in .... er ... New Zealand (that hotbed of karting) and Italy (who, being good socialists, rigged it, I'm sure). Then he took on the vaunted Euro F3 league, and won in a car that even his less talented teammate (I know, hard to believe) took to second that year. Then, he got an F1 ride. Brilliant! (This had nothing to do with the $80M his Daddy paid to Williams)... OKAY I LIED:
Report: Lance Stroll's father spent $80 million to get son Williams F1 seat
Read more: http://autoweek.com/article/formula...pent-80-million-get-son-f1-seat#ixzz4lFlhl7R4

Of course, it took the German media and the U.S. media to accurately report the bribe. Lance Stroll is a poster child for everything that is wrong with F1. Credibility is a scarce concept in F1, and they need to understand that riches can come as easy as they go...not that the billionaires would shed a tear. They will move on and leave F1 in shambles. It's up to the people to change this party.

Don't get me wrong. If they want to make the series a 100% technical battle with manufacturers pumping in billions, then they need to drop the facade that drivers matter, because the public is quickly figuring this out.