Lance Stroll's impressive Hungarian Grand Prix weekend proved to himself he can perform at the front in Formula 1, Racing Point say.
As teammate Sergio Perez struggled with dizziness in qualifying, the Canadian stepped up to claim third on the grid in Budapest, before only a fast-starting Max Verstappen and recovering Valtteri Bottas denied him a second F1 podium on the Sunday.
For Stroll, though his race pace has always been solid, it was problems on a Saturday that often held him back, indeed, across 2018-19 he went on a run of 15 straight Q1 exits in qualifying.
But after putting a complete weekend together in Hungary, Racing Point CEO Otmar Szafnauer thinks it will be a catalyst to build on.
“This is exactly what Lance needed,” he told Autosport.
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"It’s a confidence builder for him and we always knew that he’s got the speed and the talent, but when he actually does it under pressure then in his mind he knows he can do it. It’s not just us telling him.
"He did a great job, a lot of good laps and good learning.”
Though 2020 is Stroll's fourth season in F1, it is often forgotten he is still only 21, the second-youngest driver after Lando Norris.
And having been thrust onto the grid so quickly, taking the Max Verstappen route of straight from European Formula 3, Szafnauer isn't surprised it has taken him time to find his feet.
“I mean there’s a lot of things to learn: including our car, the way the engineering team works, how we share data, how to treat the tyres,” he explained.
“It’s about knowing what to do on your out-lap, how to work with your performance engineer, and all those things don’t happen overnight.
“It takes experience, and he’s learned all those things. We’ve also spent a lot of time understanding how to drive this tyre, setting the car up around the tyre, and we can help Lance with all those things.
“He’s learned very quickly and as you can see, the performance has followed suit. There’s more to come from him as well.”
