Felipe Massa took the diplomatic option in response to Lance Stroll's claim that the Brazilian veteran gave him no assistance or mentoring during his rookie season.

Taking to social media, the Brazilian, who contested 269 Grand Prix over the course of a 15 season career, tweeted "better not to comment" along with a couple of 'face screaming in fear' emojis.

The comment was in direct reaction to Stroll's claim that he had received no guidance "whatsoever" from the Brazilian during his rookie season.

"I don't think I had any guidance from him last year, whatsoever," Stroll told Motorsport.com. "He was a teammate like any other," he continued. "He was busy trying to drive as fast as he could, and I was trying to drive as fast as I could. That was it. There was nothing more to it than that.

"I don't know why people seem to think there was a coach or a mentor thing going on," added the Canadian teenager. "There wasn't, it was just him doing his job and me doing mine, and whoever did it better finished ahead.

"Whether my teammate is someone with fifteen years' experience or someone of one year's experience, my approach doesn't change."

Of course, with his father having spent many tens of millions in 2016 on an F1 test programme that saw Stroll carry out race weekend simulations on a number of tracks he would race on in 2017, and further simulations throughout his rookie season on circuits he was unfamiliar with, one has to wonder how much mentoring the youngster really needs.

For his part, Massa said on several occasions in 2017 that working with the Canadian rookie reminded him of his own apprenticeship with Michael Schumacher at Ferrari.

While denying he received any help from Massa, who was appointed President of the CIK/International Karting Commission in December, Stroll suggests that the addition of Robert Kubica to the team, will be beneficial.

"Robert can be a big help for sure," he said. "Felipe was a good help in that way of helping the team develop with the new regulations, and Robert can definitely help us.

"He seemed to have a good understanding of what the problems were with the car," he said of the Pole's outing in Abu Dhabi, "we got some feedback from the Renault he drove in Hungary. So that was good, I can think we can use him and integrate in the team to help us get further up the grid."

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by BrightonCorgi, 05/02/2018 17:51

"Massa really helped revitalize Williams into a solid point winning team race after race. We'll see how Stroll is this season. I thought he had a solid season and was unaware his family was that loaded...

Vanity and self confidence is the norm from pole position to starting from the pit lane in F1. Why should Stroll's comment come as any surprise?"

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2. Posted by meatball, 05/02/2018 16:26

"I'm embarrassed to share the same nationality as that arrogant little prick. And its really too bad that Williams has had to go the way of renting its team out to the highest dollar. This is embarrassing to the heritage of Sir Frank as well. Stroll must be breathing easy that Kubica is in the "trainer" seat now, instead of out-qualifying him every Saturday."

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3. Posted by nickybur, 05/02/2018 14:31

"Rise above it, no reaction will always be the best reaction. Take that one with you everywhere. "

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4. Posted by george, 05/02/2018 14:16

"you want to be clear as several comments here demand... Mr Stroll would never be closer to an f1 car than watching it from the stands if his father had not put up the millions. There are thousands of drivers with equal skills. But the same goes for so many other....talents. Now, once in the car, he does do a decent job.. as the thousands of others would have done. Alonso, Vettel, are the real drivers, the other 18.. including that little shit Hamilton, can be replaced any time, nobody would notice. Raikkonen is the shadow of himself, Verstappen, son of his dad, and.. who else is driving again ...? "

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5. Posted by Batman, 05/02/2018 12:56

"I wonder if it's a joke from Lance or it is Lance, the Joker. I am start to pay more attention to what Jaques voices about this young character."

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6. Posted by Damnsborne, 05/02/2018 11:30

"If you like someone you will show what you know, if you don't you won't.
Maybe tips on making friends should come before driving lessons.
You can't teach a smartass."

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7. Posted by Yeyox02, 04/02/2018 18:18

"If I were Massa, I would have answered to him. "I was not paid to be a teacher and if you want a teacher tell your daddy to pay for it". That´s it."

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8. Posted by Anthony, 04/02/2018 17:23

"Let’s be fair here. Lance is young and probably would have benefited from another year or so before entering F1. But Felipe was clearly in the final stages of his career and, for the benefit of the team, should have devoted some time to helping Lance develop rather than simply trying to beat him. "

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9. Posted by Chris Roper, 04/02/2018 16:25

"He seemed to have a good understanding of what the problems were with the car," he said of the Pole's outing in Abu Dhabi, "we got some feedback from the Renault he drove in Hungary. So that was good, I can think we can use him.........

Arrogant little S1ht.
Has his father actually bought williams from Sir Frank and given it to the kid?"

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Massa reacts to Stroll's claims

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