Lance Stroll rejects Felipe Massa comments
- Published on 27 Apr 2018 13:07
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- By: Rob Veenstra
Lance Stroll has played down comments made by Felipe Massa about the struggling Williams team. Last year, the pair were teamed together at the once-great British outfit, but Williams replaced veteran Massa in favour of another 'pay driver' rookie Sergey Sirotkin for 2018.
Massa suggested in the media earlier this week that Williams chose finances over performance. "First of all, Felipe is not here. He's gone, he's retired," Stroll is quoted by Brazil's Globo in Baku. "And the last time I looked back then (in 2017) I was using myself as a reference, not Felipe. I look back to where I was last year when the car was better," the Canadian added. "In China I was in Q3. And in other races, many races, I was scoring points. It's not like I can no longer do that. The problem now is that when we have a really good race, we're 14th or 13th. That's how I see it," Stroll said.
Stroll's new teammate Sirotkin said Williams has identified its problems and will now set about fixing them. "We hope that with new updates, the machine will start working with the schedule that we have within 15 weeks," the Russian told Match TV. (GMM)
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Replies (11)
Login to replymcbhargav
Posts: 1,332
“He is not there, he is retired” thats the problem. An old guy way past his prime, was 0.2-0.5 sec faster than you on an average mr.Troll. Thats the problem!
mbmwe36
Posts: 533
Pretty much, yes.
It's pretty obvious that Stroll is starting to feel the pressure. His comments as of late has been rather salty, and he's blaming everybody but himself. Good stuff, unless you're a Williams fan..
ajpennypacker
Posts: 2,475
I understand Stroll's stance. But the reality is very obvious to everyone, Williams is at a significant disadvantage with two inexperienced drivers. Particularly with a difficult car like they have in 2018.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Very much agree, it was one thing last year, when they had a mediocre car. This year, they have a dog, and having two inexperienced and borderline bad drivers wont help their case.
Ram Samartha
Posts: 1,172
Massa would probably still be in the points with this year's car.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Probably not, the car looks god awful. But he would be better compared to what they have now.
mbmwe36
Posts: 533
I'm willing to bet that had Massa still been there, the car wouldn't have been as bad. It's basically unheard of that a car regresses like that from one season to another. I think it has a lot to do with the development on the driver side, and the general setup.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Not necessarily. Remember how the McLaren degraded from 2012 to 2013? Wasnt a big degradation, nowhere near this. But you are very true to point that out: Massa could've likely helped in stopping it from getting this bad.
mbmwe36
Posts: 533
I actually didn't remember that. Was the 2013 McLaren slower than its 2012 counterpart?
It was a huge gamble Williams took with that lineup. It's actually crazy that they couldn't find a driver with some experience and a little bit of money to drive alongside Stroll. Even Sirotkin doesn't benefit much from this. Because even if he beats Stroll, people are gonna be like "well big deal, it's fucking Stroll". And if he gets beat by Stroll people will same "he got beat by fucking Stroll!"
I have to say that part of me is enjoying this slowmotion car wreck that is Williams.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Not much, and not consistently, but it wasnt really the upgrade they thought it would be. Basically it was a new design with new flaws that were never truly fixed. Seems that McLaren had that ordeal three times in a row.
It was, and Im all for a good gamble, but it clearly didnt work for them. The Williams name is still worth some, they'd have many suitors on the F1 grid if they just looked there, but nope. Apparently they still chased Button during 2017, but he was more interested in Super GT. Williams is currently not a good place for rookies. We dont get to see if they are actually any good, and the rookies cannot truly contribute to developing the car as good as an experienced driver can, and thus they dont learn that skill either. Now I dont like to say that Stroll and Sirotkin are "bad paydrivers", because all drivers in F1 are, and because I wanted to give them a chance, but Stroll hasnt improved much it seems, and Sirotkin doesnt seem capable of pushing a bad car beyond its boundaries. Of all the teams I wanted to see in the mud, I cant say it was Williams, but I do like seeing a Merc' powered car last. Means that we have progressed to the point were more than just a good engine is a decisive factor.
boudy
Posts: 1,168
There really is no issue. Williams has always been an place where drivers pay for their cars. Just check their history. The current results are not inline with their expectations but I have to wonder if their expectations are just too high. Last year's podium of stroll was lucky and showed that he's capable. I am not a stroll fan and was hoping that sirotkin would be slightly better. I believe the car isn't the main issue but it's more that their drivers could do a lot better.