Williams deputy team principal Claire Williams has silenced former world champion Jacques Villeneuve’s criticism of rookie Lance Stroll, believing he is performing as was expected from the team.
Villeneuve, who drove for Williams for three seasons from 1996-1998, was vocal in his comments about the teenagers performances this season, labelling him as the worst rookie in Formula 1 history.
Stroll shrugged off the criticism from his compatriot with three consecutive points finishes, including a maiden podium in Azerbaijan after a difficult start to his F1 career.
Although the jury is still out on the 18-year-old’s form, Williams insists the team is right behind Stroll and believes he is beginning to prove he deserves to be on the grid.
“With regard to Jacques’ comments, he’s obviously been pretty vocal in the media,” she said.
“I don’t want to go into a huge amount of detail about it. I don’t think there’s any need. The way that Lance describes it, he just wants to get on and let his track performance do the talking.
“I think that’s what we should do because that’s when the critics will stop. When Lance proves he deserves to be in Formula One, which we all at Williams believe anyway.
“You may have only just seen the results on the race track but if you could see the hard work he’s put in behind the scenes over the course of the year, it’s been really impressive. This is a big step-up from the junior formula. I think people can underestimate that step at times.
“He’s delivered against everything we expected of him and I’m looking forward to seeing how he’ll move forward for the rest of the year. It’s great to now have two cars that are scoring points for us in the Constructors’ Championship.”
