Ninth place is not a reason for joy. Why Stroll needs to be added

Alexander Nasonov – about why Lance Stroll, who earned his first points in Canada, cannot stop there.

At home, Stroll managed to please the team and fans with a worthy result. The ninth place impressed Williams technical director Paddy Lowe so much that he even went to the podium to participate in the awards ceremony with his ward before realizing his mistake.

But so far, this is Stroll’s only bright spot in his rookie season. In the first six races he scored no points and only finished twice.

Why is Lance having such difficulty? Maybe Williams was in a hurry, inviting such a young athlete to his place? It’s too early to draw conclusions. But the statistics at the moment does not speak in favor of the Canadian.

First, the table doesn’t lie. Williams has only 22 points, although the car appears to be around fifth or even fourth fastest. And 20 points out of those 22 earned Felipe Massa.

Felipe Massa

Yes, this is the same Massa who was destroyed last season by Valtteri Bottas, who won the qualifying duel against his partner with a score of 17:4. Massa announced at the Italian Grand Prix that he would not compete in 2017. And only the sudden departure of Nico Rosberg was the reason, one of the consequences of which was the return of the Brazilian to Formula 1. He is already 36, and the best years are long gone.

A closer examination of the protocols suggests that Stroll is inferior to Massa in all respects – not only in terms of points earned.

In the first six stages, Stroll was never able to get ahead of Massa either in qualifying or in the race. Until last Sunday, his best result was 11th in Russia. It is noteworthy that Felipe even finished ahead of Lance in Sochi, although he had to make an unplanned pit stop due to a puncture.

Stroll is inferior to his partner not only in races – he lags behind throughout the weekend. The average gap between Stroll and Massa in training and qualifying is around eight tenths of a second. Felipe has never been considered a qualifier, but somehow he manages to regularly get into the third segment, while Stroll does not always pass even the first.

Lance Stroll

Do you remember what happened at the Monaco Grand Prix? In the final phase of the race, Lance radioed the team that he was concerned about the temperature of the brakes and tires. “I don’t know what to do, please help,” was what they heard on the command bridge.

In principle, it is normal when a novice asks for help from the team during the race, since now it is not prohibited. But we must not forget that Stroll received such training before his debut that no other rookie had, if you take the last years of F-1. Lance’s father, billionaire Lawrence Stroll, is rumored to have paid the team over $50 million to secure his son’s prize driver seat. This amount, logically, should have included tests on the simulator, help from the team’s engineers, and tests on Williams’ 2014 car.

Deputy team leader Claire Williams, of course, protects her ward. But if Stroll can’t deliver regular top-ten finishes, his place on the team will be in jeopardy.

Sponsors do not like to get involved with a team that fails every now and then. In 1999, the same Williams invited CART champion Alessandro Zanardi, but the Italian, who did not earn a single point for the entire season, left the Grove at the end of the season.

Will Stroll face a similar fate? This will become clear towards the end of the season, when it will already be clearly visible what place in the Constructors’ Championship Williams claims. Last season, the difference between fourth and sixth place was $17 million. Is Stroll Sr. ready to cover this difference?

Source: Sportarena

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