Stroll poised to leave mark on first F1 season
“Decent” and “OK” — that’s how Montreal-born Formula One rookie Lance Stroll characterized his performance at last weekend’s U.S. Grand Prix, where he finished 11th.
He might as well have been describing his entire season.
Which isn’t a knock on the kid. Stroll turns all of 19 on Sunday and already he has staked his place among the big boys of the planet’s premier racing series. That’s no small victory.
He sits 12th in the championship standings, just four points behind Williams teammate Felipe Massa in 10th — and the Brazilian is one of the most experienced drivers on the grid.
The reality is you can go only as far as your car will take you and Williams is strictly middle of the pack these days. So it’s fair to say Stroll has done as well as could reasonably be expected in his first year in F1.
But with three races remaining, it’s not too late for the rookie to aim a little higher — starting at this weekend’s Mexican Grand Prix. Here’s hoping he does. If you’ve been paying attention, you know that the big prize — the F1 world drivers’ title — is all but done and dusted with Lewis Hamilton looking like a sure bet
to seal the deal in Mexico City.
With his win in Texas last weekend, the Mercedes ace needs only to finish fifth or better on Sunday to secure his fourth drivers’ crown and render the remaining two events, in Brazil and Abu Dhabi, superfluous.
As for F1’s other prize — the constructors’ trophy — Mercedes has already packed that away by amassing an insurmountable 147-point lead over Ferrari.
But there are tight battles for positions farther down the field and Stroll, with 32 points, finds himself in the middle of a couple of them.
His immediate target is Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg, 11th in the standings with 34 points. At the same time, he must keep a careful eye on the rear view, where objects are closer than they appear: Romain Grosjean of team Haas Ferrari lurks in 13th with 28 points.
But the bigger and more significant challenge for Stroll is Massa, smack in the middle in 10th place with 36 points. Remember, the No. 1 performance indicator for any driver is his teammate — the only other man working with equal machinery.
By some key metrics, it must be said, Stroll has been badly beaten by his partner.
In qualifying, he’s managed to outgun Massa only three times in 16 tries. And too often, the difference between the two drivers has been not one or two grid positions, as might be expected, but several.
As for the races, there have been 10 in which both drivers finished. Again, Stroll has come out ahead only three times. Not great.
On the other hand, when Stroll makes a statement, he tends to employ an oversized exclamation mark — to the benefit not only of himself, but the team, too.
To start, he could not have chosen a better place to score his first points in F1 — right in his own backyard with a memorable ninth-place finish at the Canadian Grand Prix in June at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
The feel-good story put Williams in the headlines here and beyond.
Then, in Azerbaijan, Stroll became the youngest rookie in F1 history to stand on the podium, taking advantage of a chaotic race to finish third (and narrowly miss out on second).
That bombshell result remains Williams’ lone podium of the season.
Last month at Monza — the cauldron of motor racing — Stroll became the youngest driver to start an F1 race from the front row, again making the most of circumstances (rain and penalties) to qualify second for the Italian Grand Prix.
That’s major progress from the start of the season, when Stroll failed to finish the first three races and some critics seemed to revel in trying to crush him. Remember Jacques Villeneuve’s assessment? “One of the worst rookie performances in the history of Formula One.”
Classy and from a fellow Canadian, no less.
At least team principal Claire Williams never wavered — or if she did, she never let on.
In April, when she was asked what she expected from her new recruit, Williams cited strong and consistent performances in qualifying and races and a “reasonable number of points to contribute to the constructors’ championship.”
“For him to get a podium would be fantastic,” she added, “but let’s not put pressure on him.”
It may be overstating things to say Stroll has ticked all the boxes. Then again, it’s doubtful Williams or anyone else would have expected him — not Massa — to account for the team’s best showings.
So can Stroll overtake his teammate in the standings in the remaining three races? We’ll see. But what an exclamation mark that would be.