Pat Symonds is expecting Lance Stroll to make mistakes during his rookie campaign in 2017, but also believes the young Canadian will learn from his mistakes to become a far better driver.
The Chief Technical Officer of the Williams Martini Racing squad points out the crashes that blighted Stroll’s rookie campaign in the FIA European Formula 3 Championship in 2015, before he came back in 2016 and dominated in taking the title.
“Of course he’ll make mistakes and we’ll be repairing cars,” said Symonds to Reuters. “These things happen as part of the process.
“If you look at his Formula Three career, in 2015 he was having quite a few accidents in that. The Monza one is just staggering.”
Symonds believes Stroll is the real deal, and believes his 2016 Formula 3 title was earned through hard work and excellent driving, and is expecting him to perform well in Formula 1.
“He hasn’t won that championship with anything other than a lot of skill and maturity,” added Symonds. “For a guy that young he’s driven really well in pretty well every condition. He’s raced well, he’s led at the front.
“He’s come through the field a bit, he’s driven well in the wet. He is the real deal.”
