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Stroll: "Villeneuve only sees the negative"

Published on 08 Jan 2018 16:20
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By: Sam Gale

Lance Stroll has hit back at Jacques Villeneuve, saying the former Williams driver is "always negative".1997 world champion Villeneuve, who drove for the British team when he won his title over 20 years ago, is a serial critic of his fellow Canadian Stroll.

Now, Villeneuve has hit out at Williams for reportedly selecting the heavily backed Russian Sergey Sirotkin instead of Robert Kubica to be Stroll's 2018 teammate. Stroll has been heavily criticised this season for not being ready for the step to F1 and paying his way into the team, with Villeneuve saying: "They already sold their soul to the billions of Lawrence Stroll, who only cares about his son"

Stroll, 19, hit back in the pages of the French publication Auto Hebdo: "I don't pay too much attention to what he's saying. It's always going to be negative anyway. He never supported me, in every sense of the word. He only sees the negative. Even the Baku podium was not a positive in his eyes," Stroll insisted.

However, Williams' 2018 lineup - expected to be made official in the next week or so - is raising eyebrows throughout the motor racing world, due to the controversy surrounding the potential appointment of Sergey Sirotkin over Robert Kubica, with former driver Felipe Massa retiring because of the lack of decisiveness amongst the team, after previously being open to continuing in 2018.

Pauli

Posts: 140

I remember Villeneuva saying very strongly that Kubica doesn't belong to F1 around Hungaroring GP. I would be very surprised if he actually changed his mind about that. I suspect he was going to criticize Williams who ever they select.

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Jan 8 2018 - 18:52

F1 News Felipe Massa Sergey Sirotkin Lance Stroll Robert Kubica Williams

Replies (10)

calle.itw

Posts: 8,527
Truth has been spoken. Whenever I hear a word uttered from Villeneuve, I just imagine him standing by the pit straight at a Canadian Grand Prix, just flinging shit at every passing car and on some of the people in the crowd, frantically spouting whatever negative remark he can think of between every fling. A bit like what many people on the net like to do, actually.
- + 1
- Jan 8 2018 - 16:31
- calle.itw
  
  Posts: 8,527
  Mind, Stroll wasnt exactly amazing last year, but then again, the Williams car didnt look very impressive. Lets see how well he does in 2018, and after that we can decide on whether we should join Villeneuve in his shitflinging or just leave him to it.
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  Jan 8 2018 - 16:33
- boudy
  
  Posts: 1,168
  It's hard to judge how good that williams is when you have 2 drivers that aren't really setting the world alight with superfast times. If that Williams was in the hands of HAM, RIC or VES would it be higher up. Damn sure it would be. Actually I remember that Villeneuve had lots of positives about Stroll before all the negative remarks.
  
  Kinda agree with both, Stroll stated Villeneuve is negative and Villeneuve criticising Stroll performance. But good luck to Stroll , I hope he improves.
  + 0
  
  Jan 8 2018 - 17:43
- calle.itw
  
  Posts: 8,527
  It is, but even with that it did handle very oddly at times. Looking at how edgy it was in the corners, I'd say there is likely some sort of impact from the car itself.
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  Jan 8 2018 - 20:32
Kean

Posts: 692
Has Villeneuve criticized Williams for hiring Sirotkin over Kubica? Strange, didn't Villeneuve trash talk Kubica a few weeks ago, saying he couldn't see why anyone would want to hire him and that he was a arrogant son-of-a-bitch? Now he would prefer to see him in the Williams instead of Sirotkin? Seriously, Villeneuve needs to disappear. Now, I'm inclined to agree that Stroll's performance last year was rather underwhelming, and that there are drivers out there more worthy of an F1 seat. Also, is Williams hiring Sirotkin over Kubica raising eyebrows? How come? Sirotkins fastest lap on the soft tyre in Hungary was rather impressive, he also finished 3rd in his two seasons in GP2. In 2015 Stoffel ran away with the championship unchallanged in the ART car, and in 2016 Prema entered GP2 and dominated, so finishing 3rd these years isn't all that bad. I will wait and see before I judge Sirotkin, he is likely to beat Stroll that's for sure.
- + 0
- Jan 8 2018 - 17:15
- Pauli
  
  Posts: 140
  I remember Villeneuva saying very strongly that Kubica doesn't belong to F1 around Hungaroring GP. I would be very surprised if he actually changed his mind about that. I suspect he was going to criticize Williams who ever they select.
  + 2
  
  Jan 8 2018 - 18:52
ajpennypacker

Posts: 2,475
I am not sure what's Villeneuve's problem with Stroll but it's personal. I thought his initial criticism of Stroll was valid. The kid was embarrassing himself. He then improved marginally (still mediocre), but Villeneuve escalated the criticism for no reason. However, I actually find it entertaining :D
- + 1
- Jan 8 2018 - 18:12
- calle.itw
  
  Posts: 8,527
  Its his fetish. You know, some like feet, some like trees, others like flinging shit at other drivers. ;)
  + 0
  
  Jan 9 2018 - 11:22
mcbhargav

Posts: 1,332
Stroll should answer his critics on the track, but that might be little hard for him at this age, with that pace.
- + 1
- Jan 8 2018 - 18:53
- ajpennypacker
  
  Posts: 2,475
  I agree he needs to answer on track, but disagree that it should be hard for him at this age. He is the youngest driver on the grid. He should definitely be several years away from his prime, meaning he should be getting better every year. I wish him well, but I saw nothing last year that led me to think he's a future star in F1.
  + 0
  
  Jan 9 2018 - 00:55