Formula One’s newest young starlet Lance Stroll feels is prepared for the pressure of racing amongst the sport’s most established drivers.
Stroll will be the youngest driver on the grid when they line up for the first race in Australia on March 26, he will also be the first Canadian to enter into the sport since 1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve left at the end of 2004.
Speaking to Crash.net, Stroll said: “Of course there’s pressure, but it’s a good pressure. You need that pressure, without it, what are we doing here? There’s always that pressure and that’s why we love it, to have that adrenaline and that pressure to achieve great things.”
After dominating the Euro F3 series in 2016, winning 14 out of the 30 races in the season and outscoring his nearest rival Maximillian Günther by 187 points, Stroll feels that another season in the junior ranks wouldn’t benefit him as much as going straight to F1.
“The reason for not doing GP2 is that F3 is a very high level.” Stroll added. “If the opportunity for Formula One arises nothing prepares you for Formula 1 like actually competing in Formula 1. GP2 is a step up and it’s that middle step, one that is sometimes good to make, but I don’t think anything actually compares to actually competing in Formula 1.”
Stroll’s teammate is still unconfirmed ahead of the new season as it becomes clear Valtteri Bottas is wanted by Mercedes after world champion Nico Rosberg’s shock retirement, it is rumoured Felipe Massa is prepared to forgo his retirement by a year to drive for Williams in 2017.
