Despite a hitherto unprecedented Formula 1 testing programme, 18 year old rookie Lance Stroll has crashed out during both his days of testing for Williams at Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona, crashing out on both days but finding support from none other than Lewis Hamilton amid questions being asked regarding his state of readiness for Formula 1.
On his first day in the cockpit, which he took over on Tuesday from veteran teammate Felipe Massa, Stroll spun and damaged a front wing early on and because there was no spare in the Williams trucks had to cut his day short. It was valuable track time lost to the youngster and his team.
During his second day, Wednesday, determined to make amends he survived a spin just before lunch. Then he managed to record a healthy 98 laps before he lost control and spun into the wall in Turn 5, damaging the front end of the car, including the left suspension of the FW40.
It was another early shower for the Canadian teenager as the car could not be repaired before the end of the afternoon session. He thus lost another hour and a half of track time.
Immediately questions arose on the various media channels questioning his ability to adapt to the new era Formula 1 . On Twitter Stroll was being ‘hailed’ as the new Pastor Maldonado of the sport, the Venezuelan notorious for being accident prone during his time in Formula 1.
In the 2016 Euro Formula 3 series, Stroll took eleven wins on his way to claiming the title. Helped by the substantial backing of his billionaire father, Lawrence Stroll, it was decided that the teenager was ready to tackle Formula 1.
Reminiscent to Max Verstappen who also skipped the traditional route to Formula 1 via the GP2 series which was the finishing school for the likes of Lewis hamilton and Nico Rosberg.
While Verstappen adapted quickly to F1 and has risen to be a star, with a grand prix win already under his belt. But Stroll is being catapulted into the sport at the dawn of a new era for Formula 1 where cars are tougher and trickier to drive.
Despite an intense $20-million testing programme with Williams to prepare him for his testing debut in Barcelona, Stroll has done himself no favours with his costly off track excursions.
Nevertheless, triple F1 World Champion, Hamilton has come out in support of the young Canadian at the end of the third day of testing in Barcelona, “I feel for him in the sense that it is the toughest year to come into Formula One, being that these are the fastest and most physical cars.”
“It is to be expected because it is not an easy car to drive at all. It is so much faster and precision is even more important than the past. Last year’s car is easy compared to this year’s.
“These are only the first days and you cannot jump in and drive from no experience at all to being consistent. It is actually good for him to go through this now rather than at the first race,” added Hamilton.
Nevertheless the question remains: Is Stroll ready for Formula 1 right now?
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