In the run-up to the start of pre-season testing Motorsport Week brings you left-field reflections and stories of teams, drivers and reserves that will be part of the Formula 1 paddock in 2019.
Lance Stroll took 14 wins in the 2016 European Formula 3 season en route to a comfortable title triumph that facilitated his graduation into Formula 1 with Williams.
But the previous campaign had been less straightforward.
Stroll stepped up to Formula 3 with Prema for 2015 as Italian Formula 4 Champion but mid-season his campaign hit the buffers.
Stroll escaped unharmed after suffering a huge barrel roll on the entry to Curva Grande at Monza after colliding with Antonio Giovinazzi, on a weekend in which deteriorating driving standards attracted the ire of stewards and the FIA.
At the following round in Belgium he suffered contact in Race 1 but led in Race 2 – until it all went wrong. Stroll was deemed guilty of causing a collision that eliminated Felix Rosenqvist and Mikkel Jensen, and exasperated stewards banned him from the third and final race that weekend.
It proved to be a low point from which Stroll recovered. That shaky start was soon consigned to history as he took six podiums across the remainder of the year, including a maiden win at the Hockenheim finale, to wind up fifth in the standings.
A year later he was crowned the series' dominant champion and made the leap straight from Formula 3 to Formula 1.
