Stroll was asked why he took up F1 racing: "Well, I was too small for hockey, eh?" Add your own remark to the Stroller thread.
Champion in Italian F4, European F3, Toyota Racing series,... 11 years old when entering Ferrari Academy (imo not because of his dad). Talented guy, who definitely deserves this chance with Williams.
I test down, 2 crashes and one chassis in the bin. Good score. I wonder if he can improve on it in Test 2?
Check out his dads Ferrari collection. Definitely came into Ferrari Academy because of his dad. Considering the testing he did (considerably more than ANY of his rivals by a significant magnitude) in F4 and especially F3 and the funds they stuck in, getting the very best engines of each batch, he should've won every single race. His home set up is incredible, private race track, THE best F1 sim. I know how much testing he's done with Williams. As as indication...he's got more hybrid F1 experience than anyone in the field. I know more but can't share.
No, it's not early to judge. He is well known in the racing scene, since he arrived in Europe for karting, for being a golden boy. It's simply ridiculous the resources that his father has invested in order to make the kid a champion. He is definitely not a bad driver, otherwise he wouldn't have won the F4 and F3, but he is just an average driver. Ask Dino Chiesa, his team principal during karting years... By the way, Max Verstappen and Lance raced at the same time with Chiesa, albeit on different classes, and the talent difference between the two was blatantly massive. Massa will put him in the pocket easily.
The thing that I don't like is that he doesn't seem very apologetic at all to his team. He wrecked the car twice and ruined their testing for the most part and from what I've read, I have yet to hear him say anything like "I'm sorry... feel bad for the team... etc." It's things were going well and had a bit of mishap kinda BS.
Someone from the Great White North claims Canadian discrimination on this thread in 5... 4... 3... 2... BHW
Yes, but more because "Massa sucks" rather than "Stroll will be fantastic"! . Massa has only ever beaten a teammate over a season once, and 2017's Massa is a long, long way off of 2008's Massa.
You're right, I'd forgotten that the over-the-hill, well past his prime, Villeneuve was even still competing in 2005! How impressive for the rising star Massa to beat JV at that stage...by a whole 2 points, 11 to 9! Of course, the previous year, Massa was thrashed by Fisichella 22 points to 12, and in 2002 he was thrashed by Nick Heidfeld 7 points to 4.... etc. (Sorry, Massa still sucks )
Just shows how fncked the Williams team is. Two hopeless drivers and one is hopefully paying a fortune to be taking up space he does not deserve ... Why do they keep going/trying? Pete