“Two Years of Torture” – Lawrence Stroll Slams His Son Lance Stroll’s Williams F1 Spell

Lance Stroll moving from Williams to Racing Point was once F1’s worst kept secret. Lawrence Stroll came in to rescue the sinking ship, that was Force India; it was rather obvious that Stroll would make the move to the pink car. However, Lawrence Stroll explains the reason behind the need to shift his son to the slightly better team in 2019.

The sport asks a lot from its drivers, both physically and mentally. The once championship-winning team, Williams was on a steep downward since the 2015 season. Nonetheless, after having made his entry to F1 with the team in 2017, Lance Stroll had two arduous years in store for him.

Lawrence Stroll simply described his son’s rookie years with the team as: “Two years of torture.”

For Lance, who had a thriving karting career, the drop in performance after coming to the big league was unusual and devastating. “Particularly when you’re used to coming off winning. And when you train for two three hours every day, and watch what you’re eating and know that the best you’re going to do is P19 on a good weekend. It’s challenging.”

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Therefore, making the move to Racing Point was important for the driver. “Getting the car last year, which was the first time we had a car, was very important. Very important for everything. For all the work he’s put in.”

Lance Stroll ‘torture years’ at Williams Martini

After Valtteri Bottas made his move to Mercedes at the end of the 2016 season, Lance Stroll came in as a replacement to the Finn. Despite being partnered with veteran Felipe Massa, Stroll’s pole position in Baku was the only top-five result of the team that season. Very telling of where Williams was during Stroll’s initial years with the team.

In 2018, Williams Martini secured points, but only in the single digits- Stroll having contributed 6 of the 7 points for the team.

Although the first year with Racing point didn’t see Stroll on the podium, the upgrade from 6 points to 21 points showed statistical improvement. Further, it was hard to miss Stroll’s incredible pace in the pink car. In 2020, not only did the Canadian take pole position in Turkey, but he also stepped on the rostrum twice that season.

Now, in the Green car at Aston Martin, Stroll has frequented the top 10 as well. Finally displaying his skills on the track, will we see another podium appearance from the Canadian before the season ends?

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