04/06/2017
NEWS STORY
Ahead of his debut season the odds were already stacked against young Lance Stroll, mainly because many believed it was his father's money, as opposed to the youngster's talent, that not only got him into F1 but a seat with one of the sport's most legendary teams.
As the Grove outfit celebrates 40 years in F1, Claire Williams, whose team's world champions alone include some of the sport's true greats; the likes of Alan Jones, Keke Rosberg, Nelson Piquet, Nigel Mansell and Alain Prost, leapt to the defence of Stroll claiming that much of the criticism of the teenager is unwarranted and unfair.
"Some of the stuff I have seen has been pretty unpleasant and I don't think it is fair or warranted," said Williams, according to Autosport.
"He's a young kid," he continued, "people forget that. They forget how difficult the transition is between F3 and F1 and no one is going to come into this sport and straight away blow everyone away... that's just unrealistic.
"We always said from the outset that he needed some time to familiarise himself. All the circuits so far this year, he hasn't driven on and he has equipped himself well. When he hasn't finished invariably, it hasn't been his fault. So I think the criticism that has been levelled at him is grossly unfair."
She then alluded to other drivers who went on to greatness following equally shaky starts to their F1 careers.
"If you look at some of the drivers that we have in our sport that are up there winning races and their statistics from the first six races, they are pretty similar," he said. "People need to look at precedents before they start criticising. Unfortunately, he's had four out of six DNFs, it would be nice if people remembered that and cut him a bit of slack.
"I know he'll be looking forward to going to Canada, but there will be a huge amount of pressure on his shoulders, and it's a difficult track. He deserves a good finish."