Lance Stroll says he has been boosted by his and Williams’ response to low points through the course of his rookie season, having been braced for setbacks.
Stroll endured a tricky pre-season phase and retired from the opening three events of the campaign, before going on to capture a podium finish in Azerbaijan and a front-row start in Italy.
Stroll ultimately finished 12th in the Drivers’ Championship, with 40 points, and expressed encouragement over the trajectory of his first season in Formula 1.
“It was pretty tough… not finishing the first three races regardless of whether it was my fault or mechanical failure or whatever,” said Stroll.
“Just the fact I didn’t get to finish a Grand Prix, and then I had a tough time in winter testing, but that was kind of all expected as well.
“I knew I was going to face adversity at some stage in my first year and it hit me quite early in the year but I tried to stay level headed and not let it get to me.
“I think that’s what we did best as a group of people, my entourage of engineers and people who work with me always believed in me and I listened to them and we bounced back from that.
“That’s what matters: we did bounce back from that and we made it become a great season, and I look back at the season overall and I’m extremely happy with how it went.”
When asked where he felt he could improve, Stroll said: “I think everything, just coming back to the circuits every time for the second time will be a big advantage.
“I’m going to work on my qualifying over the winter; a lot of that will help by coming back to a circuit for a second time due to the limited running we get in free practice with the limited tyres and fuel levels and modes and all that.
“But I would say there’s areas to improve… on everything; just more experience, more knowledge, having time to reflect over the winter will be good.”
