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Stroll: Experienced driver won't help Williams

Published on 07 Sep 2018 10:25
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By: Fergal Walsh

Lance Stroll says that even an experienced driver wouldn't lift Williams out of its current struggles. The Grove squad is the clear backmarker for the 2018 season scoring 7 points in the 14 races so far, which leaves them at the bottom of the championship.

Stroll is in just his second year in Formula 1, while teammate Sergey Sirotkin is enduring his rookie season. The Russian driver scored his first point in the series last time out in Monza, after Romain Grosjean was disqualified from the race.

SIrotkin replaced Felipe Massa at the team, who retired from Formula 1 at the end of the 2017 season. Massa raced in Formula 1 in 2002, and then ran 14 consecutive seasons with stints at Sauber, Ferrari and Williams. However Stroll doesn't think that a driver with Massa's experience would help it now.

“I think I have answered that question a few times this year, I wouldn’t say so,” he said to Motorsport Week when questioned on the matter. “Generally we are struggling in different areas this year and it’s been since day one with how the car has been behaving and the development throughout the year so I would say we are facing other challenges this year.

“If I take for example for McLaren, I am not in a position to comment on what they’re doing but if you look at Alonso, he has a lot of experience and [in Belgium] they were struggling the same way we were.

“We were almost the same pace in qualifying so you could say the same about them. I am just putting an example, I am not commenting in anyway about what they’re doing as I am not in a position to do that but that in my eyes says it all,” he added.

Despite his results not reflecting as well as they did 12 months ago, the Canadian says that he is driving better now than he did during maiden season: “I am still looking at some data, mine from last year and how I drove the car last year and how I managed tyres and other things, and I can feel generally that I am more complete this year."

“I am more on top of the car, I have a better understanding of how to get the most out of the car in qualifying and the race. Like with any team-mate, we are always trying to work together, get the most out of each other and pushing each other – it’s what a team-mate is there for. I think the same kind of concept this year.”

F1 News Fernando Alonso Felipe Massa Romain Grosjean Sergey Sirotkin Lance Stroll Ferrari Sauber Williams McLaren

Replies (5)

calle.itw

Posts: 8,527
Whatever you say, Stroll.
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- Sep 7 2018 - 16:52
boudy

Posts: 1,168
Drivers would not be expected to be self-critical. Sorting out the issues would not need an more experienced driver only an better one, one that can make any car go quicker. The likes of Hamilton, Verstappen and the o-so team destroying Fernando.
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- Sep 7 2018 - 18:25
xoya

Posts: 583
Well, F1 (deep down) never was about drivers.
It was always about constructors.
Yes, we all perceive drivers as our heroes but they are zeroes without a good car, so Stroll has a point.
A good driver might be worth .200 of a second on an average lap of an average circuit, at best (excluding Senna at Monaco).
What Williams (and McLaren) need is a great development driver.
McLaren has one of the best drivers ever on race pace, but development and feedback-wise, Alonso was never great, and look what that got them.
Stroll MIGHT not be that bad of a driver, but I suspect that development-wise he ain't that good.
Sirotkin seems more like a type of guy who gives good feedback and works well with the team.
Stroll behaves like a spoilt brat (which can be said about one more driver on the current grid).
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- Sep 7 2018 - 19:04
blade

Posts: 341
I would add Hamilton to your list of people who get more than .2 per lap, in the wet it’s more like 1 full second a lap. But you’re right, it’s about constructors really and that begs another debate in B cars - it needs to be ended and everything done to get VW stable, BMW plus Toyota and Others back into the game- it’s better with these manufacturers in.
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- Sep 8 2018 - 10:26
- calle.itw
  
  Posts: 8,527
  Agreed. VW, BMW, Toyota (or Nissan) and even Ford would be great to have back. We need more works teams. And I think the budget cap (even if its too tight for my liking) will probably also contribute to reducing the tiers a bit.
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  Sep 8 2018 - 15:57