Williams technical director Paddy Lowe admits he will be “intrigued” to see how Lance Stroll develops and performs during the 2018 season.
The young Canadian hasn’t had the furore which surrounded him before his rookie year, partly due to a very low-key testing compared to the incidents which blighted him 12 months ago.
But with the jury still out on whether his talent matches the very large financial support he brings the British team, the pressure is on to produce stronger, more consistent results the second time around.
“We should still remember he is still 19, which is still very young although he is a very mature young man for that age,” Lowe stated. “But he is on a completely different level to how he was 12 months ago and I think we will see that in the way he approaches races.”
The main reason for the former Mercedes boss’ close interest in his driver, however, is how he will respond against a teammate with the same goal: to prove himself worthy of a seat in Formula 1.
“It’s a different context for him with Sergey [Sirotkin] alongside him rather than Felipe [Massa] that puts a different focus for him,” the Briton claimed.
“Sergey is not a known reference like Felipe and that gives Lance a different context. It’s an interesting change and I will be intrigued to see how it plays out.”
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As for the former European F3 champion himself, Stroll is confident his greater experience will be a major boost this year.
“It’s too easy to look back and say ‘I could have, should have, would have done that assuming everything worked out’,” he told Reuters. “But definitely I just have better clarity on things, having a year under my belt, than I did last year seeing every race as it came for the first time.
“I had speed at times last year, and it was good, but generally I can expect what’s coming now compared to where I was this time last year.”
