At a time opinion remains divided on Lance Stroll, the youngster really isn't helping his own cause.

Yes, there have been incidents, enough for some bright spark to create the inevitable spoof webpage. However, in the opening two races the Canadian was the victim of others over enthusiasm.

Yesterday, his first experience of the Monaco circuit, he was only bested by Daniel Ricciardo in terms of laps completed in the opening session, and was looking to better that in FP2.

Then came the clash with the barriers at Casino, a corner that has caught many an established driver out over the years.

The day before, asked about the criticism he has received, he said: "I come from a background where when I win, people try and put me down and when I lose, people try and put me down.

"I accept that and I actually kind of find it funny," he continued, "but whatever, it's out of my control. I am focused on what I am doing, I am enjoying my time in Formula One, I am enjoying the experience. At the end of the day I am here competing at 18 years old and it's very special, I am just taking it race by race."

While he might feel it is out of his control, the youngster, and those around him, really should pay more heed, for comments made in the wake of Thursday's crash do not help.

"I basically centred in looking for the limit," he admitted, "got onto the dirt a little bit and lost the rear. It was a typical street circuit mistake. I got into learning the circuit pretty quickly and I was happy with the day until then.

"I think corner eight and the last corner are the two places I need to improve on," he continued, "but it really annoys me because every time I play the Playstation game it has always been those two corners that I couldn’t get right, and in reality it is still those two corners!"

Much has been made of that last line, which even made it into Williams official press release, and while we know that many drivers get their first experience of some tracks courtesy of Playstation - including Esteban Ocon who admitted to the fact at Thursday's press conference - Stroll's comment was lapped up by sections of the media.

"'Rich kid' Lance Stroll continues to infuriate by blaming Monaco crash on PlayStation game", declared the headline in the Daily Telegraph, a theme that others chose to follow.

Stroll isn't the first driver to have had money open door for him in the sport, and while the fact that Williams chose to give him his debut remains a mystery (almost), he comes to F1 with a bona fide title to his name that of Euro F3 Champion.

"Haters gonna hate" so the song says, and while one can understand the frustration of upcoming youngsters who don't have the sort of resources Stroll can call on, that isn't the boys fault... and he is still a very young man.

What Stroll can do is continue to learn - which shouldn't be difficult with a mentor such as Felipe Massa for a teammate - keep his head down and stop giving the media excuses... not that it needs them.

After all, at a time Lewis Hamilton suggests he will not play mind games with Sebastian Vettel, once the media feels it can get inside your head it is already over.

Check out our Thursday gallery from Monaco, here.

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Paul C, 26/05/2017 16:45

"Lance must have turned the damage off when he did it on Playstation."

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2. Posted by ryanhellyer, 26/05/2017 10:17

"What's wrong with comparing reality to his experiences in a Playstation game?"

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3. Posted by MossMan, 26/05/2017 7:13

"But that Telegraph headline is completely fictional!

Its only resemblance to reality is the fact that Stroll has played F1 on a Playstation...

Headline should have read "Stroll crash confirms accuracy of Playstation game"."

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Stroll doesn't make it easy for himself

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